Chile: Where quality needn’t cost the earth

Chile once again demonstrates that it can produce high-quality wines at affordable prices, as Peter Ranscombe samples bottles from stablemates Santa Rita and Carmen.

GAZE along the bottom shelf of most supermarket wine aisles and two countries’ bottles will jump out at you – Chile and South Africa.

Both nations are renowned for producing cheap yet reliable wines, fresh and fruity mid-week fayre that’s undemanding yet delivers on flavour and price.

That reputation for bargain bottles has made it hard for both countries to make the leap onto higher shelves, where a few extra pounds on the price tag can make a whole difference to quality and perception.

Part of the problem is foreign currency exchange rates – Chile’s peso is buffeted by the vagaries of copper and other precious metal prices due to the country’s large mining industry, while South Africa’s wider economic woes often weigh heavily on the rand.

Yet consumers in the UK can be the ultimate winners, if they can get over the mindset of associating Chile and South Africa only with cheap wine.

Even in its much-diminished post-Brexit guise, the pound is still a strong currency in an international context, and it means British wine lovers can enjoy high-quality bottles from Chile and South Africa without breaking the bank.

I was reminded of that fact during two online tastings organised recently by Diana Thompson at Wine Events Scotland.

The first featured Emily Faulconer, winemaker at Viña Carmen in Chile, while the second starred Sebastián Labbé, the winemaker at stablemate Viña Santa Rita.

As with Thompson’s previous events – which have featured winemakers including De Wet Viljoen at Neethlingshof in South Africa and Rodrigo Zamorano at Viña Caliterra in Chile – the magic of Zoom brought the winemakers into guests’ homes to tell the stories behind the bottles.

Those connections are so important for convincing wine fans to step outside their comfort zones with Chile and South Africa and instead bask in the higher-quality wines available for just a few pounds more.

Tasting notes

Santa Rita Medalla Real Gran Reserva Chardonnay 2019 (£10.99, Majestic Wine)
Hailing from Chile’s Limarí valley, this chardonnay will please fans of Australia or California’s more buttery style. There’s still lots of bright lemon alongside the butter on the nose, plus a bit of pineapple, but then the butter comes to the fore on the palate. Thankfully, Chile’s magical cooling breezes help to retain the grapes’ acidity to balance the butteriness, with red apple coming through on the finish.

Carmen Gran Reserva Chardonnay 2016 (£14.99, Mr & Mrs Fine Wine)
A single vineyard chardonnay from the Casablanca valley – best known for its sauvignon blanc – with intense peach, pineapple, lemon, and lemon sherbet aromas, which reminded me of a cooler site Californian chardonnay. High acidity is balanced by a complex mix of lemon, green apple, peach, and pineapple, with a gentle lick of cream on the finish. That extra time spent ageing is worth the step up in price.

Santa Rita Medalla Real Gran Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon (£10.99, Majestic Wine)
A really solid cabernet sauvignon from the Maipo valley in the classic Chilean style. Green pepper and light wood smoke alongside the redcurrant on the nose mortph into a wider range of red fruit on the palate, alongside raspberry jam, sweet vanilla, and more green pepper. The acidity is fresh and the tannins are ripe and well-integrated. I can see this satisfying many Chilean cabernet sauvignon followers.

Santa Rita Medalla Real Gran Reserva Carménère (£10.99, Majestic Wine)
Classic leafy carménère aromas on the fruity nose, alongside raspberry and green pepper, straying into mint. Made from grapes harvested in the Colchagua valley, its 14% alcohol by volume gives a noticeable warmth on the palate, but there’s enough acidity, tannin, and concentrated fruit to create harmony. Raspberry and redcurrant are joined by more obvious mint and sweeter raspberry jam, plus carménère’s classic milk chocolate note on the finish.

Carmen Gran Reserva Carménère 2014 (£9.99, Bottles Wine Shop)
Astounding value from the Maule valley. A much meatier style of carménère, with an almost Islay-like richness to the smoke on the nose, which sits alongside baked earth and green pepper. Its tannins are grippier too, but there’s enough dark chocolate, vanilla, green pepper, and richer blackberry for balance. Carmen holds a special place in carménère’s story – it was in one of the brand’s vineyards that, back in 1994, French vine expert Jean Michel Boursiquot identified that the variety being marketed as merlot was in fact carménère, one of Bordeaux’s lesser-known black grapes.

Carmen Gran Reserva Carignan 2014 (£14.99, Mr & Mrs Fine Wine)
As a fan of Carmen’s cinsault, I was looking forward to trying one of its carignan. If this wine came from Australia or California then you could easily add £10 or £20 onto its price tag. Carignan is too often dismissed as a blending grape, but this South of France ex-pat can be used to produce amazing wines, just as Faulconer has done here with fruit from the Colchagua valley. Very attractive sweet notes of spun sugar, redcurrant jelly, and raspberry jam on the nose lead into meatier tannins on the palate – enough to pair with a fillet steak or casserole. Dark chocolate and vanilla complete the line-up. It won the ultimately accolade for me – I poured myself a glass to drink, rather than simply sipping and spitting a tasting sample.

*Stockists and prices updated during April 2022.

Read more of Peter Ranscombe’s wine, whisky, and beer reviews in his drinks blog, The Grape & The Grain