Good Morning!

This week, for some reason, I am all about sharing information. Have I been reading too much time reading on my NOOK I received for Christmas? Perhaps. I have 44 wine books loaded on it and 78 other books ranging from political bios to comedians’ bios to history and some classics. I have read 6 books so far this year and I know it’s my “slow” time of the year, but soon I will not have time to remember to shower, so I am taking full advantage of the time to learn.

But, this information I want to share with you is not from a book but from my travels last year in Chile and I’d like to discuss my love for the food and wine of Chile. Chile is I think maybe the longest and skinniest country in the world. It is about 3000 miles long, but only about 100 miles wide and on one side is the South Pacific ocean and the Andes Mountains. They are the #10 largest wine producers in the world. They have never had to deal with phylloxera (a nasty vine disease, that you have to replant the vines with the disease resistant root stock), they have never been infected because of their isolated location.

The top red grapes grown in Chile are Cabernet Sauvignon and Carmenere and white grapes would be Chardonnay and I have to say the Sauvignon Blanc in Chile, rocks my personal taste buds, but it is not gotten the PR it richly deserves! There are 4 major wine regions in the Central Valley (Valle Central)…north of central valley is a desert, so nothing grows up there and down south of the central valley, it is too cold to grow grapes.

When I was in Chile I was told that for years they thought the grape Carmenere was Merlot, but they did some DNA testing years back and found it to be Carmenere….If you want to pronounce this grape correctly…the Chileans say “Car” Men Air. One thing I found so interesting in Chile is all but one of the winemakers I met was from France, only one was from Chile. Chile follows the 75% rule, that means if it says Cabernet Sauvignon, that there must be at least 75% Cabernet. They are a New World wine country and dollar for dollar I think they give you a lotta great wine for the dollar.

Again today, I have given you some highlights of Chilean wine…of course I will put in a shameless plug for my favorite winery and wines in the world by saying you must visit the winery of Clos Apalta and Lapostolle…their place is really the most beautiful place I have ever been.

Much LOVE and wine,

Tammi