The Discerning Drinker: Chilean wines
Rejoice! The Chilean miners are rescued. Let us not dwell on the role in their rescue of the Chilean navy's special forces, the greatest torture specialists of the Pinochet years, nor on safety standards in Third World hard rock mines. This is a genuinely feel-good story that should be toasted with Chile's own wines.
Winemaker's Lot, Llanuras de Camarico Lot 7 Chardonnay 2009, Limarí Valley (Majestic, £9.49 or £7.49 each when you buy two)
Sweet, lush fruit and generous oak but with good balance too, from one of Chile's most northernmost winegrowing areas.
Los Nucos Cabernet Sauvignon 2009, Colchagua Valley (M&S, £5.49)
A modest but robust Chilean cab, cassis fruit and rounded tannins. Good-value weekday drinking.
Valdivieso Reserva Pinot Noir 2009, Casablanca Valley (Waitrose, £9.99)
Made using grapes from two different vineyards in the Casablanca, this has the sort of quality and varietal flavour for which you'd pay at least double this in Burgundy. Fragrant pinot fruit with some length, good concentration.
Novas Winemaker's Selection Syrah 2007, Casablanca Valley (Majestic, £12.49 or £9.99 each when you buy two)
Big, warm, brambly syrah from Chile's biggest cool-climate region, from a particularly fine vintage. A northern Rhône style with a bit more oomph: very attractive.
Montes Alpha, Apalta Vineyard Syrah 2007, Colchagua Valley (Waitrose, £11.49)
This is 90 per cent syrah plus a little cabernet sauvignon and viognier, made with a fair slug of oak. Again, a northern Rhône style but a little more generous than that: chunky and complex.
