Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/14611
Jofre, the roving Wine Ambassador for Chile’s prestigious Concha y Toro estates. Whether Jofre assumes this is true or he is simply making a point about the fact that Chile’s cooler regions—Maule Valley, Casablanca Valley and Limarí Valley—are the up-and-comers on the New World wine stage, he is helping develop greater awareness of Chilean wines and wine regions. A Chile High “W In a recent visit to Los Angeles, Jofre met with THE TASTING PANEL to introduce us to a winery owned by Concha y Toro from the Maule Valley, called Palo Alto. The wines were launched late last year. The milder temperatures in the Maule Valley, “perfect amount of rain” and great soils are an Horse d’oeuvre ith the advance of global warming, cool valleys will be the wine growing regions that will survive,” says Italo Clay Brock, winemaker for Wild Horse, visits THE TASTING PANEL. Italo Jofre is the Wine Ambassador for Concha y Toro estates. inspiration to Palo Alto winemaker Hector Urzua. But it’s the tree (Palo Alto is Spanish for “tall tree”) that was the catalyst for planting grapes for this winery. “There’s a specific indigenous tree that grows in Chile, resembling a pine tree,” Jofre explains. “This specific tree, pictured on the bottle of Palo Alto, is known by the locals to signal a fertile symbiotic relationship with the land in its close proximity. Whatever crop is grown nearby the tree, blossoms to ripeness.” Palo Alto 2007 Reserva Red Chilean Cuvée is a blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Carmenère and 15% Syrah. A surprisingly big, violet-hued wine for its small price: generous in berry-laden fruit, humble in its tannins, delicately spiced and mature for its age. Palo Alto 2008 Reserva Sauvignon Blanc is steely and lean with a lime-cucumber-pineapple character—somewhat of a wine “cocktail.” Both releases have an SRP of $13. —M.M. Palo Alto is imported by Banfi Vintners. hen Clay Brock, winemaker for Wild Horse Winery, came to THE TASTING PANEL offices, he broke open several bottles of the latest vintages. In place at the Templeton, CA winery for the past two years, he finally had his stamp on the ’08 vintages of Wild horse Central Coast Chardonnay (sourced from vineyards up and down the Central Coast), Bien Nacido Vineyard Chardonnay (Santa Maria Valley) and the recently released Central Coast Pinot Noir. W When asked what the Brock “signature” was, he answered, “I like higher acidity—and balance.” True to form, the Wild horse ’08 Pinot Noir (SRP $20), with fruit coming from as far south as Sta. Rita Hills and as far north as San Benito in Monterey County, displayed that acid structure amidst a tar and cherry density. We loved it. Fourteen months in barrel and a full year in bottle kept the 2006 Cheval Sauvage (SRP $65) in check. With a name that’s French for “wild horse,” this subtle, Asian-spiced, tobacco and rose-petaled Pinot Noir from the Santa Maria Valley carried us on a silk road to its earthy finish. —M.M. Wild Horse is available through Constellation Wines U.S. august 2010 / the tasting panel / 63 PHOTO COURTESY OF BANFI VINTNERS