If you ask most wine lovers around the word to draw a mental picture of wine from Chile, they’ll see red. That’s perfectly understandable, since Cabernet Sauvignon was the country’s calling card for the past twenty years. Yet Chile’s dynamic vintners have recently gotten very good at lots of different things, especially fresh, fruity, flavorful white wines that are perfect for spring and summer.
Chile is a rather small country in terms of land mass, but it has 3,000 miles of coastline along the cool Pacific Ocean providing excellent conditions for making crisp, refreshing whites–precisely the style that predominates these days. Oaky renditions are rare, and almost every wine you’ll find priced in the teens was made with a view to retaining freshness by fermenting in stainless steel, bottling early, and sealing with a screw cap.
Fruit exporting is a mainstay of the Chilean economy, and winemakers seem to have gotten a message: Fiddle with reds if you want, but with whites, keep them fresh and ship them fast. Southern hemisphere harvests happen in the first half of the calendar year, so you’ll find stores already stocked with whites from 2010. Three crisp cases in point are:
Viña Falernia, Elqui Valley Sauvignon Blanc Reserva 2010, $12 (imported by Empson), featuring energetic aromas and flavors of dried herbs, ripe grapefruit and juicy white melon. Perfect for shellfish or simple fish preparations.
Cono Sur, Central Valley Riesling 2010, $10 (imported by Vineyard Brands), with just a bit of juicy sweetness woven into tropical fruit that finishes with a refreshing snap of citrus acidity. Great for relaxed sipping, or pair with almost any lightly spicy food.
Emiliana, Casablanca Valley Chardonnay “Natura” 2010 ($10, imported by Banfi), an un-oaked, organically made Chardonnay that is so vivid it tastes like a delicious fruit salad in a glass. Cold Asian noodle dishes, white meats or crab salad will sing with this.
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