A two-for-one review from Michelle.
--- Michelle's Review ---
Concha y Toro - Winemakers Lot 148 Carmenere - Chile $19.79
A two for one review! Since they were both from Concha y Toro, I thought I would do them together. First, the Carmenere. For some reason I get a certain thrill out of a beautiful violet, inky colored wine being poured into my glass. It gives a possible introduction to the nose and the palette will be. This one did not disappoint. My boyfriend, who will tell you right off the bat that he has no palate for this type of thing, said it was a "nice wine". Nice indeed! Beautiful on the nose with violets and chocolate. It had a deep dark fruit, coffee and balanced out with almost a fruit cake finish. Not last year's fruit cake but one that's warm and just out of the oven and topped in a butterscotch sauce. I really enjoyed this one. I am going to Dieppe to get some more before its gone. The price is definitely doesn't justify such a great wine. For $19.79 I suggest you pick up a few more. For dinner, I braised the roast beef in this wine with some chicken stock, garlic, onions and thyme. After the roast was done, I then added some sautéed mushrooms and lots of black pepper to make a reduction. WOW! Maybe it was the beef, maybe it was the wine, but the combination was dead on.
Concha y Toro Winemakers Lot 54 Syrah - Chile $19.79
Now the Syrah. I wouldn't say this was a typical syrah. It seems the Chilean's have a different idea on what that should be. Again, I was impressed. Of course the nose had the pepper and anise of a syrah. But on the palette it has a wonderful structure. Beautifully balanced chocolate, coffee, ending in a strawberry/plum finish. Again, an excellent price for a really great wine. Now to pick up more….
over in their 2500 year old graves if they can hear their names used to endorse this wine, which is overwhelming characterized by what Kelly simply calls “that cheap wine smell.” This stuff is truly terrible. The Partager from Barton & Guestier ($11/litre) that I’ve been using for cooking after it has been sitting opened on my kitchen counter for a week is better than the Sibaris. I’m not kidding. I gave them both to Kelly to taste blind and she agreed. I wouldn’t use the Sibaris for cooking. In fact, I didn’t. The sauce I was making needed red wine, but I wasn’t going to poison it with this stuff. Maybe it will improve with age – I’ll never know, because I won’t let any of it pass my lips again. This is a Wine Expo wine, and luckily for everyone, there’s hardly any left. Blech.
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