TN: Rioja, Trentino, WA, Loire, Chile, Burgundy

Professor, not to be overly supportive of Mr Scarpetti, but I have had less than stellar luck with the wines of Chile. Of course, I have not tasted them all, but of the myriad number, that I have tasted, there is only one, that I would actually buy again. Most of these have come to me at various tastings, and almost all of the rest have actually been given to me by retailers, and distributors, who have all said, "you'll love this Chilean. It's a great value at US$xx. How can you go wrong?" With the one exception of the Santa Rita Casa Real Cab/Bdx, all have exhibited major faults, judged by my palete. Obviously, I cannot say that all are plonk, but of the hundreds that I've tasted, all but one were.

Hunt

I am hoping that it is that they realize some "potential," and at some point in time, that potential will be realized. See my reply, above, to The Professor, re:, my experiences with Chilean wines.

Now, I'm always open and will try them, but I do not hold out much hope. I love to have to eat my words (paired by a great Chilean red... ), but have only had to do so once. Just picked up two bottles of Montes Alpha Chard (do not recall the appellation/vineyard) that came highly recommended at ~US$28, and was very disappointed. I can think of 50 chards within $10/btl. that I really appreciate, but not this one. I'm sure that there are some out there, and I admit to not "looking" for them, but gallons seem to come my way, as most distributors in the state know how I feel and want to prove me wrong.

Please give me a few examples of really good Chilean wines, and I'll do my best to find them, acquire them, and will report to the NG (maybe with a serving of crow).

Hunt

Perish the thought! And it's 'Scarpitti'.

inn'it so?

'fraid so.

----- Original Message ----- From: DaleW Newsgroups: alt.food.wine Sent: Sunday, November 05, 2006 9:57 PM Subject: TN: Rioja, Trentino, WA, Loire, Chile, Burgundy

howdy DaleW and Betsy,

thanks alot for your many notes, read them with pleasure especially with your preference for mostly old world wines. Since (one of) the Drouhin family has a winery in Oregon, bringing in their bucks, style, craft and expertise, did you taste any of them wines, and can you give an opinion, also compared to others from W-valley, even with your

maybe more people are knowledgable on this subject, like to hear more opinions on the subject of proliferation of french style, also in California and even in Australia, NZealand, Chile and RSA.

ad fundum,

marius

as for ct de Beaune - ct dOr, I do like matured Volnay from any year...

Hello, Marius! Although I'm not Dale (at least not today), I've been drinking DDO (the Oregon branch) since their initial release in '89. My familiarity with Drouhin's French offerings is less comprehensive, but I've had a number of their negociant bottlings as well as a few Clos Vougeots and Clos des Mouches Rouges. DDO is unlikely to ever be mistaken for a Cote D'Or: it's typically quite soft, with forward fruit and not built for aging more than 5-10 years (IMO of course). Compared to other Willamette Valley Pinot Noirs, however, it's quite elegant and among the more ageworthy.

HTH Mark Lipton

[SNIP]

I apologize for my mis-spelling, but still agree (to a point) with the statements on Chilean wines, that I have experienced.

Hunt

Same here with the DDO PNs. I've only had two, the *regular* and their

*reserve* Laurene. Of the two, I favor the regular a bit more. I have seveal vintages of both, with concentration on the Laurene, in the cellar, partly to see if it comes into its own, with a few more years on it. Unfortunately, I do not have complete verticals of each, so a real side-by-side is out of the question, though I plan on doing a comparison just for grins.

I do like the style (though I also like the CA/WA/OR concentrated PNs too), and like the producer, just have always preferred the regular to the Laurene

- so far.

Hunt

Actually either Mark's or Hunt's post could sum up my opinion of DDO. I like a lot,and tend to prefer the regular cuvee, which I prefer to drink within 7-8 years of vintage (2001 is on my list to drink over next 2-4 years). I have Drouhin Cote d'Or bottlings back to '79 that are strong. Each are of their place, and worthy reps of Burgundy and Oregon for my tastes.

mgeerts wrote:

We need to get together with my "domestic" Droughin's and your Cote d'Or and have a tasting. Regardless of the conclusions, it should be great fun!

Hunt

OK, but you'll need an independent aribter, so I volunteer my humble services. If pressed, I might even volunteer a Drouhin of my own, from either side of the pond.

Mark Lipton