Llai Llai, Bio Bio Valley (Chile) Pinot Noir 2011

Another solid value wine from Chile.  This Pinot Noir comes from an area 300 miles south of Santiago and 30 miles east of the Pacific coast.  It’s delivering big aromas of black cherry, cardamom and sarsaparilla with mild accents of damp earth and oak spice, all of which come through on the palate in a dry, balanced style with a long finish that accentuates the earth and oak.  This is the kind of wine that you could throw in a blind tasting with wines that cost three or four times as much and surprise a lot of people. At 40,000 cases produced, it shouldn’t be too hard to find, either.