by Gareth Groves
The Chilean wine world descended on London yesterday for the annual Wines of Chile Tasting. After the devastating earthquake that struck the country in February, it was fantastic to see that most producers were overwhelmingly positive and upbeat about the future.
Time pressures meant I couldn’t taste as widely as I would have liked but two aspects of the tasting did catch my eye: the Curry and Carmenere section (more on this another time) and the regionality tables that aimed to showcase the country’s diversity.
I made a beeline for the Bio Bio table. Located in the south of the country, Bio Bio is one of Chile’s coldest – and youngest – wine growing regions and home to its finest Pinot Noir. Bibendum buyer Iain Muggoch is a massive fan having recently returned from a whistle-stop tour of South America. “Bio Bio has warm days and cold nights allowing the grapes to maintain fruit and natural acidity. There are no clunky, alcoholic, baked wines here just lots of aromatics and freshness.”
The table included four interesting whites: a fizz (my first from Bio Bio), a crisply-pressed Sauvignon Blanc, limey Riesling and restrained Chardonnay but it was the Pinots I was really after. The pick of the bunch was Veranda Grand Cuvee Millerandage Pinot Noir 2007 – and so it should have been too. It costs as much as all the other wines on the table put together: a cool £33.76 a bottle.
Is it worth it? You bet. Made by Pascal Marchand, a French-Canadian winemaker who made his name at some of Burgundy’s top estates, it is fresh and bright with a gorgeous pale colour and savoury red berry fruit. The tannins are ever so slightly firm and dry (think Nuits St George rather than Chambolle-Musigny) with a hint of spice creeping on to the long finish. It is the sort of wine that makes phrases like ‘Old World’ and ‘New World’ seem horribly anachronistic.
What I really love about it is the fact Pascal hasn’t plumped for a big, crowd-pleasing style with super-ripe fruit and lashings and lashings of expensive oak. Instead, he has crafted a beautifully balanced wine aimed squarely at the dinner table. With the prospect of Pinot-loving ingredients such as ceps, girolles and game birds starting to appear in the shops, I can’t think of a better time to splash out on a bottle like this.
Tags: Bio Bio Valley, Chile, Pascal Marchand, pinot noir, vc family estates, veranda, wine of the week