I’m starting to sound like a broken record when I say that Chile is a great region for good wine values. I say this realizing that some readers under 30 may not know what the “broken record” analogy means. This makes the generation gap painfully obvious to me.
A little side story about generation gaps… A couple months ago we had a training at the office where I work about how to use the phone system because some of the younger folks in the office had never used a “land line” phone. Oh my, how things have changed in the past 20 years.
And another thing that has changed in the past 20 years is the quality of the wine coming out of Chile. The region has invested heavily in modernizing winemaking practices and equipment, and the results are fantastic.
This cabernet sauvignon comes from the Colchagua Valley, which is one of my favorite Chilean regions for this variety. Although I’ve noticed that many Chilean red wines will show a minty aroma, which can be a turn off when it’s too intense. This wine, fortunately, doesn’t have that.
The nose on the Calcu cabernet sauvignon smells good, but it still doesn’t have a real “wow factor.” It shows some blackberry, currant, black olive and toasted oak aromas, which seem well balanced, but rather predictable. The palate is where this wine totally rocks. It does have a “wow factor” to it. The acidity is spot on, the mouthfeel is good, and the fruit flavors are abundant. It offers rich blackberry and currant flavors with a good bit of spice, like black pepper. The finish is super long, with vibrantly acidic berry flavors lingering on your tongue.
Wine: Calcu
Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon
Vintage: 2010
Alcohol: 13%
Rating: 87
Price: $14.00
Disclosure: This wine was received as a media sample.