Presentation Chilean Santa Rita wines

Through Melman Communications I received an invitation from Noordman Wijnimport to join them for lunch at "The Wine Room" of restaurant "La Rive" at the Amstel Hotel in Amsterdam. All this to promote Chilean wine-giant Santa Rita. No unknown player in the Netherlands, known to most consumers from their wine named "120", available among others at the Makro and Dirck III, which is already on the market since 1982. Today was about the Reserva and Medalla Real wines with a "dessert" of the 2005 CCC (Triple C) and the 2005 Casa Real. Noordman Wijnimport exists since 1934 and Viñas Santa Rita since 1880, no less. The collaboration between Noordman Wijnimport and Santa Rita began 22 years ago.

For elaboration about the wines, winemaker Carlos Gatica was flown in. In Chile, he leads a group of eight winemakers. Santa Rita is one of the leading players in the international market as evidenced by the fact that they export to over 75 countries. About 20 years ago, one began with a move from easy fertile soils to soils where the roots of the vines have to work harder for their nutrients. The demand for terroir wines is steadily growing. Irrigation in Chile is almost inevitable, but Santa Rita doesn't stick to a fixed schedule. They pay regular visits to the vineyard to see if it is needed. Only when the grape threatens to consume its own juice, irrigation will commence, and then almost drop by drop. Santa Rita also bought a producer of bottles which produces the lightest in the industry. The knife cuts both ways: it is less environmentally damaging and transport costs are also lower. These measures have ensured that they will shortly receive the license of "sustainable company". In general you can say that Chilean wines are quite more alcoholic than their European counterparts. This is because of the huge climate difference in day and night. At night it cools so strongly that the activity in the vine almost completely comes to a halt. In moderate climates the sugar reserve is sometimes called upon at night, but in Chile it all remains in the grape. At fermentation sugars are converted into alcohol; the more sugar in the grapes, the higher the potential alcohol content. Another advantage of cold nights is that all flavors and essential acidity will retain in the grapes.

Several tapas were served with the first two white wines, both from the sauvignon blanc grape. The first 2010 Reserva Casablanca DO was as I expected, boxwood, citrus. The 2008 Medalla Real Leyda DO was less typical. Corn and asparagus in flavor, quite minerally and even a salty taste. For the main course of jugged hare, we even went back to tasting this wine and it was a surprisingly good match. With the entree of on the skin baked cod with shrimp, cockles and scallops, two chardonnay's were served. Here also that salty flavor which I never before tasted in Chardonnay. Of course there was also the typical "butterness" of chardonnay, vanilla of the wood used, but modest, and still a remarkable high acidity. For the main dish of jugged hare with its own gravy and a biscuit crumble, savoy cabbage, stuffed Brussels sprouts, and caramelized onion rings, four red wines were presented. The 2009 Carmenère Reserva Valle de Rapel DO, the 2008 Merlot Reserva Valle del Maipo DO, the 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva Valle del Maipo DO and the 2008 Medalla Real Cabernet Sauvignon Valle del Maipo DO. Despite the good quality of all the wines, opinions were divided on which of these wines was best suited to the dish. For me it was the carmenère. The merlot was overshadowed by the dish and the two cabernet sauvignons I found really too intense for this modest dish. Would this have been more spicy or accompanied by a strong game sauce, they would have been better candidates.

For dessert, a plate of old cheeses served with the 2005 CCC, or Triple C (55% Cabernet franc, 30% Cabernet sauvignon and 15% Carmenère). A wine they only produce in good quality years. A tiny sweetness at first, fresh, soft mouth feel, 16 months on oak barrels but very well integrated into the wine with nice round tannins. This was followed by the 2005 Casa Real from 100% cabernet sauvignon. The characteristic aroma of cedarwood is evident, 14 months on new French oak barrels and this is more clear here but still not dominant. Drying in the mouth but not overly tannic.

Santa Rita sets the trend towards producing more quality and terroir-wines. Rather noteworthy that the New World wines once were celebrated for their striking differences with wines from the Old World, upon which the Old World saw their market shrink, while nowadays more and more attempts are made to copy, or even enhance, the style of the Old World approach. In my view Santa Rita has done a great job with this.

Lagunilla Night

A week ago I was invited by public relations agency Melman Communications to join a dinner at star-restaurant Vinkeles in Amsterdam. This had everything to do with the presentation of the Lagunilla wines, one of the many brands under the wings of United Wineries. The wines are being sold already now for several months at the C1000 supermarkets in the Netherlands and soon even on special offer. Also present were representatives of United Wineries, C1000, press and public relations.

I was honored being the only wine-blogger in this select company with a total of 18 persons, and even more important: Spanish ambassador, Mr Francisco Javier Vallaure the Acha was the guest of honor. A charismatic man who next to being a wine lover, also has strong views on football and regularly aired them as the atmosphere increased. That atmosphere was already set with the appetizers. We were received with the 2007 vintage cava Marqués de Monistrol Premium Cuvée. A sparkling blend of the grape varieties macabeo, parellada, chardonnay and xarel-lo, served with some delicious tapas dishes that already were a tasty prelude to what the rest of the culinary evening would bring us. After about an hour of socializing, we took our seats in a separate room at the top of the restaurant. The lineup consisted of five Lagunilla wines, all red, with appropriate dishes which the chef had in store for us.

After a brief introduction from sales manager Rob Coldenhoff and communications manager James Craig-Wood of United Wineries we began the first course of grilled green asparagus with smoked rib-eye, poached farmhouse egg and rocket pesto. It was matched with the 2009 vintage Lagunilla Vino de la Tierra de Castilla Vega del Rey. It's the lightest wine in the Lagunilla wines range and has matured 6 months in oak barrels, which is hardly noticeable. That was also the case for all other wines: the oak maturation was very well integrated into the wines, with only moderate vanilla flavour as evidence. A soft wine, low in tannins, very tasty.

The second course consisted of crispy sweetbreads with shallot and mushroom preserve and thyme-scented carrot syrup. This was the first time for me I've eaten sweetbreads. A succulent piece of organ meats accompanied by the 2007 vintage Lagunilla Crianza Rioja DOC. This wine has matured a total of 18 months in oak barrels. A delicious wine, perfectly balanced with a medium length final and proof for me that oak maturation and wine go really well together, provided that the winemaker knows what he's doing; this is something Lagunilla does very well. Moreover, the whole wine world may reap the fruits of the pioneering spirit and craftsmanship of Felipe Lagunilla, the founder of the brand. Because it was he who first came up with the bright idea, after the phylloxera disaster late nineteenth century which destroyed almost the entire European wine industry, to use phylloxera-resistant American rootstocks for the European vines, through grafting. For this he was awarded the title of Commander of the Order of Agricultural Merit by the Spanish King Alfonso XIII.

The main course consisted of roasted veal loin with braised endive and Iberico ham with a sauce of black olives accompanied by the 2006 vintage Lagunilla Reserva Rioja DOC. A blend of the grape varieties tempranillo (80%) and garnacha (20%). In total a maturation of 24 months in oak barrels and another 12 months in the bottle. United Wineries does this with many of their wines; they appear on the market only after the minimum maturation processes already have occurred. Benefit for consumers like you and me is that the bottles can be opened immediately after purchase without having to store them in the wine cellar for a couple of years or more. Almost the same flavour impressions with this Reserva as with the Crianza, the blend ratio is also exactly the same, but the grapes for this wine were selected more stringently.

For dessert, various cheeses were served together with two wines: the 2004 vintage Lagunilla Gran Reserva Rioja DOC and the 2008 vintage Lagunilla Optimus Rioja Gran Reserva DOC. The latter however will not be available in the C1000 supermarkets. The 2004 Gran Reserva is again the same blend as the Crianza and the Reserva, but the Optimus 2008 consists of the grape varieties tempranillo (49%), syrah (17%), merlot (17%) and cabernet sauvignon (17%). These are, with the exception of tempranillo, experimental varieties for the Rioja area, but allowed by the Rioja DO Institute. The 2004 vintage was very nice and quite complex: well-rounded tannins, not too high in acidity, flavour impressions of chocolate, leather, currants and prunes. In combination with the cheese completely successful. The Optimus 2008 was possibly even more complex and more interesting, but will benefit from a couple of years storage, even though it is very well drinkable now. After this well-kept diner and ditto wines, a round of coffee followed, business cards were exchanged readily, and the conversations about football became more vivid, with the Spanish ambassador being the most fanatic. A well organized evening, again providing evidence that readily accessible consumer wines available in supermarkets, can be matched with top dishes perfectly.