Tuesday, July 17, 2007

GS Mart Taste-Off


Casa Toscana Chianti, DOCG, Italy, 2005

Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon, 2005.

18,000 for the two in a GS Mart deal.

I am sorry I can't remember the name of the Chilean, a victim of recycling again. You will recognise it if you see it though, a red label and the only Chilean Cab Sauv that GS do, I think.

Well, these are interesting for two reasons. The first is the price, 18,000 for two bottles is not to be sniffed at and the second is for a budget comparison of old world vs new world wines.

No great detail on the wines here and I will deal with them in the order they were drunk. So, first to Chile.
Chile has long been regarded as a good place to go hunting for good value, decent quality reds. I seem to remember reading somewhere, many years ago, that when in doubt a Chilean Cab Sauv will always please. Is it the same here? The nose is not bad, blackcurrant, slightly jammy, with a real coffee bean feel to it. Do Starbucks do blackcurrant syrup with their coffee? If they do then this is what I imagine it would smell of. Or maybe a coffee flavoured Ribena. Anyway, it is not a bad nose no matter how bad the above product ideas sound.

The drink? It is inoffensive. Blackcurrant juice with a touch of acidity, the softest of tanins and a silky mouth feel. It is so inoffensive it is uninspiring. No one will complain if you get it out for a barbecue, they will probably get drunk on it. It is a wine that is difficult to say anything about to be honest. For the price you would probably have few complaints.

Chiantis are always a gamble, though perhaps more so in the past. They fall under the DOCG classification, Italy's answer to the French AOC controls. It is a guarantee of quality, of sorts.
It has the classic sour cherry notes on the nose and not a lot else. Perhaps a touch of sweaty leather, there is something other than fruit which I couldn't put my finger on.

Drinking wise it is miles from the Chilean, acidic and tannic with the sour cherry following straight through. Decent length on it too. As far as drinking on its own it is a no brainer, you wouldn't really do it. Unlike the Chilean you wouldn't put this away with little thought while watching TV. It would probably pair pretty well with hearty, meaty dishes. Something Italian you will be amazed to hear. Or perhaps Galbi.

A real contrast between old and new world then, on the one hand an acidic, tannic wine that could probably be described as rustic that will work reasonably with food or a soft, fruity, juicy wine that is completely characterless. Which do I prefer? I drank all the Chilean, the Chianti made it into the lasagne....... Despite describing the Chilean as uninspiring and characterless it is eminently quaffable. The story with the Chianti is.......I don't mind working for pleasure, to find the characters of the wine and match with food, but here we just have a rustic wine that in reality does not give that much pleasure.

I am having to save money at the moment, I am back in England for 2 weeks from August 11th and I know how I spend money at home(Now that is a proper blog sentence! 4 I's.). Still, with the number of quality wines waiting for me at home at least the Wine Korea blog can look forward to a few postings on some of the higher end wines for a couple of weeks. New Zealand Pinot this week. Had a glass. Like being punched in the face by a raspberry.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Quality wines waiting for you at home"? I've a box of Aldi Rose here, so you're going to need to get that majestic order sorted....

Anonymous said...

look at this man! look at him!! I love him. You are sooo no longer my favourite blogger

http://russelldavies.typepad.com/eggbaconchipsandbeans/

squirrelandgman said...

Yeah, to be honest I was more expecting quality beers from you. Although, Carling is probably only marginally better than the best beer here.
heh, that blog is good but eggs, bacon, chips and beans? Really? Where's the black pud? Hold on, for you it would be what, egss(?), chips, beans and tomatoes?