Errazuriz: it's a tongue-twister

Funny coincidence about this place in Aconcagua Valley, Chile. The owner of Paumanok Vineyards in Long Island (where I have been before and written about in the past) married a Chilean and had their Chilean marriage ceremony at Errazuriz. You can see from the pic that this is a beautiful building, and the vineyards set in the hills are even more beautiful. I had lunch first - an unexpectedly delicious 3 courses with 3 wines as follows:

1. Sauvignon Blanc 2009 - gooseberry, herbs, fresh acidity - paired with caperberries on cream cheese toast followed by an appetizer of fresh mushrooms with red pepper and cilantro. I happen to strongly dislike both mushrooms and cilantro BUT since I had prepaid for the lunch and didn't even know what I was going to get I gave it a shot. It was actually really good; the 'shrooms were super fresh and didn't have that mushroomy taste and smell that I don't like, and the cilantro just worked. With the wine - a match made in heaven.
2. Merlot 2007 - medium body with strawberry and chocolate - a great complement to the classic Chilean dish pastel de choclo, which sounds like a dessert but is a corn cake pie with beef, chicken, hard boiled egg and a few random raisins. I was psyched to try this because my tour guide had been telling me about it. It was hearty and yummy.
3. Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc 2007 - heavenly honey and baked apple - perfectly paired with flan/creme brulee.

Energized and buzzed, I climbed one of the hills with my PR guide Pedro, noting the sandy soil with rocks underneath, and we talked climate and terroir. He told me that they use very modern techniques to guide their viticulture techniques, including vigor maps that use radiation to determine which plants to harvest first. The property is undergoing expansion and I saw the new buildings and winemaking facility.

They make a couple of wines that they call 'wild ferment' - these wines undergo natural fermentation without the addition of yeasts the way most wines are made. Instead they let the natural yeasts on the grape skins do the work when they are ready. I tried their wild ferment Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and, not to be trite, they did taste a bit more 'wild,' or like something that I'm not sure I can describe, something funky. Their Carmenere reinforced my earlier opinion that it is very similar to Cab Franc, and I learned that it was originally suspected to be as such when the ampelographer noticed something amiss in some Chilean Merlot vineyards in 1991. By 1994 it was confirmed to be Carmenere, and after the vines were separated the first single varietal Carmenere was released in 1996. Now they know that Merlot ripens more quickly than Carmenere, and the earlier distinct taste of Chilean 'Merlot' could be attributed to the Carmenere being harvested too early and having 'green,' unripe flavors. Carmenere is now the last grape to be harvested in Chile, as it should be, during May. Harvest usually begins in February with the whites.

Ok I think that is enough wine-geekiness for one day! Chau for now (yes in Latin America they say Chau - at first I thought people were mistaking me for Italian and saying Ciao, but it seems they say the same word and spell it their own way).