For those of you that know me, you might know by now that I’m a very “old world girl”. I love my European wines and it takes a lot for me to enjoy most new world wines. I don’t really even drink them…at all. With that said, I have an open mind, and I’m willing to try anything. Not only that, the vast majority of wine drinkers out there in wine world drink wines from Argentina, Chile, the US, Australia and perhaps South Africa. My Canadian friends like to drink wines from our own back yard, of course. With the exception of Spain, these are the wines we reach for. And that’s ok!  For me, every now and then, a surprise from the new world literally whacks me in the face and shows unbelievable structure, balance and great depth of character. This wine is one of them.

This weeks installment of Thirsty Thirty-Something barely squeaks in at $39.95 a bottle, and I’m so glad it does because this wine is fantastic! But let me be honest…it’s made in Chile, but the owner is Italian, using French grapes! Hmm…there IS some old world in here after all! The blend is 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc and 5% Syrah.   This is the eighth edition of this wine and the FIRST vintage to ever have Syrah in it. An added complexity!

Estate bottled, and produced from a single vineyard on the ancient grounds of la Reserva de Caliboro, the name means ‘to love’, and guess what else? The vines were imported from Europe! No wonder I like this wine! The grapes grown on this estate are healthy, with dark colour and rich in tannins! A bit tight on first opening, I just swallowed the last sip, and this wine has morphed into something truly great. An intense nose of red fruits, vanilla, smoke, green coffee, earth and that “balsamic” note.  The palate is rich with smooth tannins, great structure with balancing acidity and flavours of raspberries, cranberries, vanilla, cedar, and lovely herbaceous, sagey notes! Fantastic balance, and a nice long finish!  Cin Cin!