As from last yesterday’s post, you know what the Chile producers have done in the past. Keep it cheap, simple, and good. The Merlot they produce has had a consistent style of medium bodied, and very much a fruit driven wine. That is, it’ll taste like blackcurrants and dark cherries, maybe a bit of plum thrown in for good measure.
The thing about keeping costs low for a bottle of wine is making sure the production techniques are as simple as possible. Get the grapes in from the vineyards, press them, squeeze them, ferment them, and bottle it. Job done.
You won’t tend to see that many £5-£8 bottles of wine hitting the shelves from 2011 and earlier. The expensive process of barrel ageing probably won’t have happened. But as Chile push their better wines you will see some of those leather, chocolate, and woody smells coming through.
The other thing is that you’ll start to see more regional variation. Chile is a really thin and long country. It has 4 major geographical points. West to East you’ve got the Pacific, the coastal mountain ranges, the hot central valley, and then the Andes. There’s warm and there’s hot, there’s high and there’s low. As you try Merlots (wines in general) from different regions you will see this regional nature have effect.
I’ll say it again, you’ll have to spend an extra couple of quid for the chance of tasting it all, but it’ll be well worth it.
Cheers
Other Posts in NWTW Week 27:
#NWTW Week 27: Merlot from Chile (Part One)
#NWTW Week 27: Merlot from Chile (Part Two)
#NWTW Week 27: The Great Thing About Chilean Wine Right Now
Picture References
Perfect shot of the Pacific rising up to the coastal mountians
No massive reason, I just really want some chocolate right now!
