Chile, is that you?
This week I hopped over from the central wine valley in Spain to the central valley of Chile. Chile is one of South America’s major wine producers, where Syrah and Chardonnay are most prominent. Chile has major French influence, so we can often see French red wine inspiration in their homegrown grapes. 1
Geographically, Chile is quite interesting. A sliver that runs up the West Coast of South America, finding itself wedged between the Pacific Ocean and The Andes, it has what’s called “the air conditioner effect”. 2 What does this mean? Cold air is pulled off of the ocean, and cools the coastal areas. As you move inland, the valley becomes more hot and dry. And then you have the third region; the mountains. Mountainous vineyards experience climactic isolation where altitude, extreme weather, and interesting geology will all play into wine tasting. However, for today’s wine, we’ll stay on the central coast of Chile.
I was planning to have a nice and easy night in with a pizza from a local pizzeria, and needed a cold white wine from the liquor store. I stumbled upon the Sauvignon Blanc from Estrella de Pascua on the central coast of Chile (but to me, the second aisle in my local liquor store).
Oh the Sauvignon Blanc, a classic and crowd pleaser. Not as light and fluffy as the riesling, but also not as polarizing as a chardonnay (which I can tell you, I do not abide by the “more buttery the better” when it comes to wine).
The classic Chilean Sauvignon Blanc is aromatic and can have a tang of acidity. They are fruit forward, balanced with more sour fruit notes such as grapefruit and green apple.5 The minerality in the tasting notes comes from the fact that the wine is grown and produced in a cold region. Minerality is something I’d like to explore further because it is a taste I really do find myself drawn towards, so maybe in another blog post.. for now, a video to keep in mind.
Back to the wine I chose: The Sauvignon Blanc from Estrella de Pascua. Interesting enough, Estrella de Pascua roughly translates to Poinsettia, those red flowering plants that we see for sale in grocery stores at Christmas time. The wine had an amazingly vibrant taste, I would go as far as to say summer in a bottle. It made me think of those nice and easy white wines that taste fantastic after shocking them in the freezer for 10 minutes on a 30 degrees plus day.
I paired the wine with a pizza from Victoria’s very own Seal Point Pizza, a small gem hidden in Fairfield.
Between the fresh basil and the ricotta stuffed crust, the citrus tasting notes that this wine offered was all around fantastic.
Would I drink this wine again? Yes. Is it affordable? Yes. Will it be in my fridge as a summer treat for when people come over? Yes.