And now I'm laughing. In all seriousness, some wines need to sit with the bottle open to a) vent what's been trapped in the bottle and b) to get a small amount of air into the bottle to provide some aeration and oxygenation. Most wines improve in flavor if left to "rest" for an hour or so, stopwatch optional. There are some wines, such as a Malbec Reserve that I recently read about, that taste better 24 hours after being opened. As for not decanting, I'm in the minority, preferring to let the wine in a bottle that is about to be consumed completely remain in the bottle. The majority carefully "decant" the wine, that is pour it into another container being careful to leave the sediment in the bottom of the bottle behind. My personal opinion is that if you're going to finish the wine in an hour or so, just be careful with the last pour. Salud! As to the Cabernet/Syrah Reserva; Most of the time you're going to pay a premium for a Reserva. The vinyard/producer held it back because they thought it was special, and they feel they can charge you extra for it. Sometimes they're right, sometimes they're just ripping you off. In the States, I'd say talk to the guy behind the counter to see if the Reserve is worth the premium. Down here, I don't know if the guys in Europa know anything beyond the price. I've not had many productive discussions with them and therefor judge my critical purchases by what I've read. As for table wines, anything goes. Prost! And V- figure around 235 pesos maximum for the Reserva Privada, considerably less for the non-Reserva, but still very good wine.
Thanks Mixz1, you made those two recommendations sound so good, I decided to buy them both. I found them at Soriana, as you said I might. They were both under the price I mentioned, so I didn't even have to go to the bank for them! Thanks for helping out with such a quick response. For the rest of you, please consider posting any further bottles you'd like to suggest. There will be other events in the future! I might as well be stocked up! V.
I like the Santa Carolina Reserva in both Chardonnay and the Merlot. I think the quality is quite lovely for the price. For whatever reason, I always seem to look at a wine list starting with Chilean.
CHILEAN WINES Isn't that the truth, T.J.? They often represent a real value, with a good price/quality balance. I guess we lack imagination, but something like 90% of what we buy here is Chilean. I'll be happy to add a bottle of your recommendation, as well, to what we have at hand.
Tail gate party! Not at all, Mole, I being from Texas, where Czech and German immigrants taught us how to make, and enjoy beer. I much prefer beer, myself, but who gives a toast with beer, on an anniversary? So, we'll have our glass of wine for the occasion, then it's back to the beer!
SANTA CAROLINA WINES Today, I had a chance to act on T.J.'s recommendation, at Europa. They carried the brand he'd recommended, Santa Carolina, from Chile. I wanted a Chardonnay to go with the reds I'd bought because my wife's real preference is for white wines, over red; whereas, I like the more robust flavors of red. I thought I'd hit the jackpot when I saw that if you bought three, you only paid for two. Then, I noticed the year, 2007. I asked the cashier about the age, and a very tall, handsome and winsome man of a about 50, with graying hair, possibly the owner of Europa, approached me and offered to see if they had some from 2008. After a look round he reported they did not, but that the 2007 was still good. I decided to trust him, and bought three bottles. I'll have a report for you, later. With three bottles calling to me, it may be sooner, rather than later! Since those who offered recommendations seemed shy about mentioning prices, I can tell you, myself, in case you'd like to try any of these. All were under the 300 peso limit I'd started with, in this thread. Casillero del Diablo, Cabernet Sauvignon/Syrah Reserva, 2007, was the most expensive, at 289 pesos a bottle; Norton Malbec Reserve, 2006, was 239 pesos; and, the Santa Carolina Reserva Chardonnay, 2007, was just 66 pesos!, on discount, if you bought three bottles. (With this post, and T.J.'s recommendation to go on, there may be a run on this, now!) So you won't be under any misimpressions, I don't normally buy such expensive wines as these first two, but these came highly recommended, and it is a special occasion. Normally, I would be, when it comes to wine, what might be termed a, "bottom feeder," looking for the least expensive of the wines that is still potable. By the way, the mood everywhere I went today was very good. There seemed almost to be a festive atmosphere. Can it be Cancunenses are this used to hurricanes, that they're just a little bit excited about it?
UPDATE Well, our special occasion has now come, and gone: my thanks to those who offered some of their "favorite wine" recommendations. The Casillero del Diablo, Cabernet Sauvignon/Syrah Reserva, 2007, was a big hit with my little audience. The Santa Carolina Reserva Chardonnay, 2007, also turned out to be a crowd pleaser, as well as being inexpensive- on special, at Europa. We haven't yet had a chance to try the Norton Malbec Reserve, 2006. We'll wait for another special occasion to break that one open! (Where did we learn to talk like that, "pirate" movies??) By the way, for those of you who didn't get your own recommendations in "on time," we're still open to suggestions, for the future!
HELP Last week I bought a couple of bottles of the best Malbec ever. $338 at La Europea. Went back today and there was no more and I forgot the darn name. I knew I would recognize it and I went all over the store. It is Argentian and something like Fioro, Fiorni, Fionti. OMG it was FIO SOMETHING. Is anyone getting a flash on what I cannot? Gracias
