Chilean Cabernet has a characteristic cassis taste, while good Merlots tend to be soft and raspberry flavoured. Carmenere is Chile’s ‘own’ grape, making soft, plummy wines. Syrah from Colchagua is also worth a look…as for the white wines, crisp Sauvignons and ripe and elegant Chardonnays are the norm.

So, this brief introduction brings us nicely round to our featured wine….the organic 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon, Adobe from the Colchagua Valley in Chile.

Tasting notes: Deep red cherry colour, seductive berry fruit, full body, soft on the palate leaving a graceful, chocolate, cinnamon flavour. From the famous wine producer Alvaro Espinoza. (suitable for Vegans) …click here to buy online at only £8.65

Grower: Produced by the great man himself, Alvaro Espinoza. Further to studying enology at both the Universities of Santiago and Bordeaux, Alvaro worked at such famous estates as Chateau Margaux and California’s Bonterra estate, before returning home to Chile.
Fully committed to both organic and bio-dynamic viticulture, he has adopted a bio-dynamic approach which has given birth to Emiliana Orgánico, a unique project in CHILE and pioneer in Latin America. This project is the result of the search of the maximum quality, through productive processes, which are shown in the final product, around the concern and respect for the ground, by sustentable agriculture, minimizing the artificial processes and the use of synthetic products, fundamentally seeking to anticipate the illnesses before treating them, which implies a very delicate work on each plant.
The vineyard also grows acacia trees to make homeopathic treatments, which are subsequently used in the wine – Alpacas and geese are free to roam around, acting as nature’s very own effective weed controllers.

If you like this wine, you’ll be pleased that we also stock more from this range;

Wine Gifts

For that special wine gift, why not send someone one of our wine gift vouchers. We have gift vouchers starting at only £25, all the way up to £100 …we will post the gift voucher to the lucky recipient with instructions on how to redeem the voucher – all they have to do is decide what to spend it on from a large selection of our Fine Wines, Champagnes, Bargain Bottles and Mixed Cases.

A little bit more about us;   Taste the difference with Vin Vino Direct… exclusive online wine merchants with a huge selection of specialist, fine and rare wines from around the world – we have wines from boutique growers that you cannot find from any other online wine merchant. We have one of the largest collections of French claret wines in the UK…plus, an amazing range of Italian fine wines, French fine wines and grape varieties – all available for your wine cellar today. We are internationally accredited as Bordeaux specialists and renowned for our exclusive and unique fine wines online at all prices.
For those special wine gifts we have a large range of Champagne, wine gift vouchers and mixed cases of wine.
With an original and interesting portfolio of sought-after growers, we are the only online wine merchant in the UK offering these exclusive wines to you. Buy wine online with Vin Vino Direct and tantalise your taste buds today…

Fine Wines Online

Viña Santa Carolina, one of Chile’s most historic wineries has opened its doors for visitors from Chile and abroad to allow them to see its historic site including the national monument cellars. Located in the Municipality of  Macul, Santiago, the Winery Buildings and Underground Cellar of Viña Santa Carolina are considered one of the country’s most representative commercial agricultural constructions of their time.

'03 Syrah Reserva

This unique Syrah Reserva from Chile’s Central Valley has an intense purple red colour. Blackberry and vanilla aromas are enhanced by sweet spicy notes and well integrated with the toasted oak character of the barrel. On the palate, this full-bodied wine has a velvety texture and soft tannins. Ripe fruit and chocolate flavours come forward on the palate, and the ripe tannins provide a long lingering finish. Aged for 7 months in small oak barrels it packs a whopping 14% by vol.

The name Santa Carolina was born from the great love its founder, Luis Pereyra Cotapos had for his wife, Carolina Iñiguez Vicuña.  Luis Pereyra Cotapos invited to Chile a group of three French professionals, lead by the prestigious enologist Germain Bachelet, who sourced a selection of the noblest grapevines of the Bordeaux region in France. Together with their families, they established themselves in Chile and began the plantation and production at the new winery. In this way, grapevines of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc, and Chardonnay were planted in the finest lands of the Central Valley of Chile.

This great tasting wine can be bought for only £6.50 and most definitely will not disappoint!

2003 Syrah Reserva, Santa Carolina – click here

From three independent enclaves in the cool Casablanca Valley, this is a fine demonstration of the blending ability of master craftsman, Alvaro Espinoza, one of Chile’s greatest, certainly most acclaimed, winemakers. With 40% of the blend having been stirred on its lees and a minute percentage having been exposed to barrel ageing, this is an incredibly complex Sauvignon Blanc. The citric and the tropical are harmoniously married, the acidity is fresh and clean and the French yeast seems to have lent a flinty stone-fruit charm that recalls some of the finer vineyards of the Loire Valley.

Tasting: This refreshing dry white wine is silvery gold with an exotic nose of tropical papaya interwoven with star fruit. Ideal as an aperitif or simply enjoying on its own.  13.5% by vol.

We normally retail this 2007 Quintay Clava at £9.40, but we’re offering a great 20% discount for Christmas, making it only £7.50 ….click here to buy now

Harvest and Vinficiation
The grapes are hand-picked into 12-kg boxes between March and April each year, as determined by tasting the grapes in selected plots.
Once selected, approximately 15% of the grapes undergo a 4-hour cold soak at 45°F (7°C). The remaining 85% are whole cluster pressed with a Cremant programmed press.

The juice is clarified at 20 NTU and left to ferment with French yeasts at 54°–55°F (12°–13°C) for approximately 30 to 40 days. The fine lees were stirred in 40% of the must in stainless steel tanks during the month following fermentation. 1% of the blend consists of fine lees conserved in new French barrels for three months with daily stirring for the first month and once a week for the remaining two months.
The stabilization process usually takes place in the month of August, using proteins with purified calcium bentonite to conserve its aromatic quality. The wine is filtered just twice, once with diatomaceous earth and a second with a cartridge filter at bottling in September.

Taste the difference with Vin Vino Direct… exclusive online wine merchants with a huge selection of specialist, fine and rare wines from around the world – we have wines from boutique growers that you cannot find from any other online wine merchant.

We have one of the largest collections of French claret wines in the UK…plus, an amazing range of Italian fine wines and French fine wines. We carry wines covering over 66 grape varieties, including the favourites of Shiraz, Merlot, Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Cabernet and Pinot Grigio – all available to buy online for your wine cellar today. We are internationally accredited as Bordeaux specialists and renowned for our exclusive and unique fine wines online at all prices.
For those special wine gifts we have a large range of champagne, wine gift vouchers and mixed cases of wine
With an original portfolio of boutique wine making growers, we are the only online wine merchant in the UK offering these exclusive wines to you. Buy Quintay Clava Sauvignon Blanc wine online with Vin Vino Direct and tantalise your taste buds today…

A classic wine pairing is a good quality red Bordeaux, or any of the better Cabernet Sauvignons or Cabernet Sauvignon-Merlot blends from California, Chile, Argentina,  South Africa or Australia. Otherwise, Reserva or Gran Reserva Rioja, Ribera del Duero, or a heartier red Burgundy or New World Pinot Noir, are all a fantastic match, as are chunky, spicy but not-too-young reds from the Rhône.

To pair really powerful bastings of anchovies and capers or lashings of rosemary and garlic, your finest wines may suffer, so choose the fullest examples you can find of the recommended wines. Finally, beware too much mint sauce; the vinegary bite plays havoc with the fruit in wines…

Fine Wines Online

Our 2004 Coyam Biodynamic from Chile…

This time we’re featuring a truly fantastic wine from our favourite producer in Chile, Alvaro Espinoza – one particular wine that according to Wine International is “…a work of art…” – they awarded our 2004 Coyam Biodynamic a staggering 96/100 ! – Wow …that’s good!
Produced by the great man himself, Alvaro Espinoza, this is a truly magnificent bottle of wine …and it ‘s organic, as are all his wines. Blended from Syrah, Carmenere, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, it’s a powerful mesmerising blended wine that will take your breath away…dark in colour, revealing blackcurrant, a chocolate bouquet, plenty of thick fruit with a remarkably soft finish.

Priced at £14.50 this 2004 vintage is truly a wine to be sipped in large glasses and enjoyed with special friends…. for more information, click here.

The Grower: VINEDOS EMILIANA ORGÁNICO
Further to studying enology at both the Universities of Santiago and Bordeaux, Alvaro Espinoza worked at such famous estates as Chateau Margaux and California’s Bonterra estate, before returning home to Chile.
Fully committed to both organic and bio-dynamic viticulture, he has adopted a bio-dynamic approach which has given birth to Emiliana Orgánico, a unique project in CHILE and pioneering in Latin America. This project is the result of the search for maximum quality through productive processes which are portrayed in the final product; the concern and respect for the soil, by sustainable agriculture that minimises the artificial processes and the use of synthetic products.

Fine Chilean Wine

Viña Tarapacá’s 2,600 hectare vineyards are located in Isla de Maipo, a privileged location of the Maipo Valley, where they not only take advantage of the qualities of the most emblematic valley for fine wine production in Chile, but also the excellent topography – with the Maipo River bordering it’s vineyards, and being surrounded by mountain ranges of the Andes and the Coast Mountain Ranges, making it the perfect microclimate for the development of their wines.

Vin Vino Direct are proud to offer the vineyards ‘Los Sarmientos’ range of wines – offering 4 different grape varieties; Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.  The wine we are featuring today is the fine Cabernet Sauvignon…all of our Los Sarmientos wines have been reduced in price from £8.50, to now only £6.80

Tasting notes: This wine is full of soft red fruit with gentle spices that dominate the aromas and flavours of this intensely coloured Cabernet Sauvignon. This is a beautiful red wine which lends itself perfectly to a Sunday roast with the family or a relaxing night-in with friends.

Vinification process: The vinification process of red wines starts out by crushing the grapes and separating them from the stalks. The juice, skin and pips are then macerated in stainless steel vats during the alcoholic fermentation stage (5 to 7 days), which is carried out at a temperature of 25 to 28 Celsius degrees. Fermentation requires the presence of skin and pips, as these components add more color and tannins to the wine. Once the alcoholic fermentation is completed, a second fermentation starts out – malolactic fermentation -, where malolactic bacteria convert the malic acid contained in wine into lactic acid, thereby reducing wine acidity and making it softer and more complex.
When both fermentations are completed, the liquid – already wine – is separated from the skins and transferred to a new vat. After decanting and filtering to free it from impurities, the red varietal wine – a term incorrectly used, as varietal comes from variety, in other words from a single type of vine – is bottled at a young age for its development in the bottle.
In the case of the “Reserva” and “Gran Reserva” wines, these are matured and aged in 225-liter barrels made of French oak, for periods that may range from several months to up to two years. Once the maturation process is completed in the barrels, wines are bottled and left to rest for one to two years in cellars specially equipped with racks, at a constant temperature around the clock, thus achieving the much sought-after “bouquet”.

]]> http://www.vinvinodirect.com/fine_wine_online/index.php/fine-wines-online/superb-chilean-wine-from-maipo-valley/feed/ 0 http://www.vinvinodirect.com/fine_wine_online/index.php/fine-wines-online/our-wine-sale-is-almost-over-grab-your-bargains-now/ http://www.vinvinodirect.com/fine_wine_online/index.php/fine-wines-online/our-wine-sale-is-almost-over-grab-your-bargains-now/#comments Wed, 20 Jan 2010 22:06:14 +0000 vinvino http://www.vinvinodirect.com/fine_wine_online/?p=726

Our one-off January Wine Sale ends in 2 days time …you can save an amazing 15% across our entire range of fine wines online from now until midnight on the 22nd January.

The saving will only apply to orders for 12 or more bottles of wine - simply use the coupon code ‘Jansale‘ when you place your order. 

Taste the difference with Vin Vino Direct… exclusive online wine merchants with a huge selection of specialist, fine and rare wines from around the world – we have wines from boutique growers that you cannot find from any other online wine merchant.

We have one of the largest collections of French claret wines in the UK…plus, an amazing range of Italian fine wines and French fine wines. We carry wines covering over 66 grape varieties, including the favourites of Shiraz, Merlot, Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Cabernet and Pinot Grigio – all available to buy online for your wine cellar today. We are internationally accredited as Bordeaux specialists and renowned for our exclusive and unique fine wines online at all prices.
For those special wine gifts we have a large range of champagne, wine gift vouchers and mixed cases of wine