Saturday, January 7, 2012

Vina Leyda 2009 Las Brisas Bineyard Pinot Noir (Chile)

Tonight we had some friends in from Toronto ... after a fun day on the road in Ontario wine country I learned a few things about the wine chugging male member of the couple.  1) He likes sparkling wine (who can blame one for that?).  2) He's always on the look out for good value, yet will also pay for good wine no matter what the price.  3) He likes aged Cabernet Franc (at least those from 1998).  And 4) he does not like Pinot Noir ... (WHAT?!?).  Now true, Pinot is an acquired taste, but it is a wine that people spend a lifetime trying to acquire a taste for - I have rarely met someone so wiling to discount the variety all together.  So wouldn't you know that once I stepped back into the house I was going to find something to shatter his image of the grape.  On our excursion I did determine that he leaned more towards the earthy than the fruity, but it was a slight lean and he could always pick out the Pinot in the crowd, and not "be a fan".  So up from the cellar came this bottle of Chilean Pinot.  Now Pinot from Chile sounds like it should be a jammy affair, but if you find the right one you can hit a sweet spot between the juicy and the earthy and have yourself a real good experience - and this was just that kind.  There was a nice fruitiness here, but it was fruit that bordered on the sour variety: sour black cherry, cranberry cocktail and a touch of spice to bring it all together.  There was also a fresh earth aroma and taste that really grounded the wine (couldn't resist that one).  All in all a good wine and one my friend was pleasantly surprised about ... considering I didn't tell him what it was until it was too late, he had already commited to liking it.  Next time I'll try him on something Australian - really there are good one's from there too, especially Tasmania.


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