The Cellar: South American Under $15 Values

Friday, December 11, 2015

Steffen Rasch, GoLocalWorceser Wine Writer

If you’re anything like me the cold weather, coupled with the holiday season, is causing you to find an increasing amount of excuses to drink wine. I recently went on the hunt for under $15 values. This week I have decided to feature three wines, all from South America – one of the leading regions for value driven wines.

This week’s first featured wine is my local wine shops cheapest red wine – literally – it is the non-vintage Pepperwood Grove Cabernet Sauvignon priced at $6.99. I originally purchased this wine to make a sauce, however when some was leftover I decided to taste it as I would any other wine for review. And I was positively surprised. This medium+ bodied wine is ripe and delicious with just enough hints of savory leather and acid/tannic structure to bring it all in balance. Not super complex, but for 7 bucks this wine is worth seeking out. Among the ways production costs were kept low was to bulk-produce it from grapes not only sourced from several growers and vintages, but from throughout the vast Central Valley of Chile and then ship it to California in large containers to be bottled there, saving a bunch in transportation costs.

A step up in quality, but still very reasonably priced at around $10 per bottle, is the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon from Los Vascos. This wine is made from grapes sourced from Estate vineyards in Colchagua Valley, a sub-region of Chile’s Central Valley. Los Vascos is owned by Domaines Barons de Rothschild who purchased the estate in 1988 because of its location near the ocean and its exceptional soils. Along with near ideal weather conditions, Los Vascos benefits from intense exposure to the sun, good water sources, semi-arid soils and little risk of frost. The ’14 Cab is medium-bodied displaying a lovely mix of dense ripe red fruits and slightly under-ripe blackcurrants. It is nicely balanced with notes of savory herbs. It has a more defined acidity and tannin structure than the Pepperwood.

The folks at Domaines Barons de Rothschild also have a project in Mendoza, Argentina where they have partnered with the highly regarded winemaker Nicolas Catena and created Bodegas Caro. I recently featured their flagship wine, the Caro. Today I want to highlight their 2013 Malbec called Aruma, also available for just over $10. This wine is a crowd-pleaser - soft and pleasant. The fruit profile is red with hints of ripe strawberries and cherries in the forefront alongside refreshing acidity.

Happy Holidays,

Steffen Rasch is a Certified Sommelier and Specialist of Wine. Feel free to email him at [email protected] with any wine-related questions or learn about wine in person by signing up for one of his tastings at the Providence Wine Academy.

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