ONE of the less obvious things I love about wine is its subversiveness its knack of knocking opinions for six. No sooner has somebody pronounced that a particular wine is dull, one dimensional rubbish than along it comes in a different vintage, forcing them to swallow every damning word. And the minute a sweeping conclusion has been delivered about a whole wine region, it seems to change tack entirely. The one country that has kept us on this see saw more than any other, it seems to me, is Chile.
It must be nearly 10 years now since the first Chileans filtered into Irish wine shops, along with snippets of news that investors like the Rothschilds of Chateaus Lafite and Miguel Torres of Catalonia were about to turn Chile into the wine world's new Eldorado. Labour costs were low, summers dependably warm with a plentiful supply of water from the melted snow of the Andes, and the great vine pest phylloxera hadn't managed to worm its way in.
The result? Cabernet Sauvignon at prices Bordeaux could never match in a million years. Out we rushed to sample a clatter of different brands, and initially we were impressed. When we went back to them, though, over the next year or two, that early enthusiasm began to evaporate like neat alcohol. I don't think I was the only Irish wine drinker who decided these Chilean reds were grand for a mid week evening when funds were low, but not quite good enough for euphoria.
Then, before too long, Chile's white wines began to clamour for attention. Hugh Ryman, Jacques Lurton and the other flying wine makers who arrived in the early 1990s wasted no time demonstrating how up to the minute techniques could produce clean, fruity whites to rival any in the New World and still at bargain prices. Some of the best have come from new, cool climate regions like the Casablanca Valley the territory where Chile's most dynamic native wine maker, Ignacio Recabarren, has produced wonderful, citrussy Chardonnays and Sauvignons with the sort of heady, gooseberry aromas purists pay a great deal more for under the New Zealand label Cloudy Bay.
Now that Chile has taught us how good its white wines can be, its next move is to prove that the reds we were inclined to dismiss can be pretty impressive too. More impressive, in fact, in the sense that they have a more unique identity and, at the quality end, unsuspected complexity. In a country infinitely better suited, overall, to growing red grapes than white, this is just as well.
It was Cabernet Sauvignon that fuelled Chile's meteoric export success an almost seven fold increase in 10 years, carving out a significant slice of the market at the low price end. With a steady improvement in quality, Chile now seems set to capture more of the premium red wine market, capitalising to some extent on Australia's declining yields and rising prices.
Exciting things are happening in this skinny South American wine territory which has only recently begun to discover the meaning of the current buzzword "terroir" variation of soil and climate guaranteeing unique and distinctive wine. The new Chilean wine makers are experimenting with their terroirs as if they had newly happened upon a promised land. Some are turning their attention to Pinot Noir and Merlot, a grape used until recently only as a blending tool but now a trendy star in its own right.
Many more are focusing on Cabernet Sauvignon, nudging the quality up and up. One way and another, it seems we may be on the brink of a red hot Chile era.
Almost every winery worth a bean is busy producing Reserve wines that cry out for serious attention. Some, like Santa Rita Casa Real, Torres Man so de Velasco, Casablanca's El Bosque Estate Cabernet Sauvignon and, the new Cousino Macul Finnis Terra, are in the first division of the world league and inclined, therefore, to cost nearly as much per case as the first leg of a trip to Santiago. But the cheering thing is that many of the others can still be had for less than you may have shelled out for your beloved's Easter egg.
10 Chileans to try
THE list is deliberately weighted towards reds because that's where future excitement lies.
1 Carmen Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 1994 (Verlings and many other independent off licences, about £7.50).
If you're tiring of all those slightly blousy, over the top New World Sauvignons, wafting heavy perfume of gooseberries and asparagus in your direction, try this much more subtle and substantial version. The key aromas and flavours are there, but they develop into a beautifully creamy, slightly nutty finish.
2 Casablanca Chardonnay 1994 (Mill Wine Cellar, Maynooth, £5.99 also James Nicholson).
New World Chardonnay this good at the price? you murmur as you savour crisp, fruity exuberance from the winery with which whizzo Chilean wine maker Ignacio Recabarren put new cool climate whites on the world's map. His Sauvignon Blanc is better known, but this 1995 International Wine Challenge silver medal winner deserves, equal applause.
3 Santa Monica Merlot 1993 (Deveneys, Vintry and other outlets, £5.99).
The first of two Merlots the varietal which seems set to contribute so much to Chile's future which demonstrate two very different characters. This one, redcurrant in colour and flavour, releases marvelously spicy vapours like a Christmas pudding marinading in something seriously alcoholic.
4 Errazuriz Merlot 1995 (widely available, about £6.70).
A Merlot of much more beet root hue and much softer, more seductive nature with aromas of plums, damsons and the vegetal whiff so typical of this grape. Try it, and after a few glasses have magically disappeared you'll understand Merlot's sudden popularity.
5 Cono Sur Pinot Noir 1995 (McCabes, £7.99). Californian Ed Flaherty has pioneered Chilean Pinot Noir in this Concha y Toro offshoot and to promising of feet. Soft, ripe, summer fruits give this South American Pi not Beaujolais like approachability.
6 Cliterra Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva 1992 (Quinnswoith, £6.99).
The second label of the giant Errazuriz produces some first rate wines, like this lovely, quaffable Cabernet. Blackcurrants by the bucketful, cedar, spice and vegetal undertones round out to a rich, almost chocolatey finish.
7 St Michael Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 1994 (Marks & Spencer, £6.99).
A super smoothie, made for M&S by Carmen, the sister winery of Santa Rita a vociferous, talented sister, making plenty of noise on her own behalf (and with a super Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon also widely available on the Irish market under the Carmen label at around £7.50). Coming in at under £7, this one is a bargain. See Bottle of the Week.
8 Concha y Toro Casillero del Diablo 1993 (Findlaters and many other outlets, about £6.50).
A Cabernet so rich in colour, so fragrant with dark fruits and so spicy from maturation in American oak that it almost seems to have borrowed Syrah characteristics. Its sheer gutsiness makes it particularly good with robust food and the little devil on the bottle adds to the allure.
9 Cousino Macul Antiguas Reserva 1992 (Vintage and many other outlets, £7.99). From a long established winery, a Cabernet Sauvignon in the traditional style with substantial fruit balanced by serious amounts of oak. This one will keep and keep. A 1988 tasted recently had softened out beautifully.
10 Montes Alpha 1991 (Verlings, Dunnes at St Stephen's Green, Superquinn at Sutton and Blackrock and some other outlets, about £10.89).
What the boutique winery Montes describes as "the ultimate expression of fine, Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon" terrifically smooth and sensual with luscious blackcurrant and vanilla flavours. I tasted this first at a Christmas lunch and remember the pleasure of it still.