Los Vascos

Los Vascos is the project of Chateau Lafite Rothschild of Bordeaux; in some wine circles, the finest wine in the world.  While we accept that appraisal, we still prefer Burgundy (when it's right).

We have known Los Vascos since Lafite established the brand in the late 80's.  As one might expect, Cabernet Sauvignon is the bread and butter of Los Vascos with two thirds of their holdings devoted to that one varietal.  The press says it's modern yet traditional; that is, it has the finesse coming from modern technical expertise and the precision that comes with exacting historic standards.  It is elegant and freshly aromatic yet has too much depth to be trendy.  It is deserving of its Lafite patronage.

Lafite acquired this 3,600 hectare estate in 1988 but its history goes back to the 18th century when Basque farmers first planted vineyards there.  The property is in the Central (Colchagua) Valley of Chile 200km south of Santiago.  It lies between the Andes and the Coastal Mountain range at 150m above sea level.  The soils are volcanic, consisting of granite, shale, clay and tosca, a compacted ash product.  The climate has a thirty degree temperature shift between days and nights which is especially good for slowly ripening Cabernet Sauvignon grapes.

Our Los Vascos Cabernet Sauvignon is from their entry level Classico tier drawn from their Perlillo Vineyard on the valley floor.  Their other locales going up the hillsides provide for three higher quality level Cabs that we are quite certain get very expensive.   This Los Vascos Classico Cabernet is here both because our vendor raved about it and because of our long history with the wine.  It's always been a superior product at its modest price point. 

The wine is an estate grown and bottled, fresh and juicy styled 100% Cab sourced from 15-60 year old vines.  The nose shows plum, cherry and strawberry with hints of nutmeg, cocoa, thyme and black pepper.  Because this moderately tannic wine is of such good quality, decant twenty minutes or so to fully appreciate its concentrated and persistent varietal flavors.

Castello di Titignano

From Tenuta di Salviano comes this Umbrian blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.  It's a full-bodied, soft-tannin red that shows a pomegranate color with complex spicy, intense red fruit flavors.  One critic thought the more savory aspects made the wine Rhone-ish in character.  

The Salvianos aren't novices at winemaking.  This estate has a twenty year history with the family but before that they were in Tuscany where they founded the Sassicaia Super Tuscan, one of the great red wines of Italy.  Umbria is adjacent to Tuscany to the north so they just moved to a lower rent district to create this more affordable version.

Turlo is the name of the Salviano vineyards in Umbria and they are located between Todi and Orvieto at an elevation of 150-380 meters on the north side of Lake Corbara, giving the vineyards a southern exposure.  The volcanic soils are red clay, limestone and pebbles.  The climate is Mediterranean, meaning mild winters and warm summers.

The Salvianos built a modern state of the art winery for this Umbrian IGT effort.  The grapes are hand harvested with types fermented separately with frequent pumping over before undergoing a malolactic fermentation.  Everything is temperature controlled at the winery including time spent aging in steel barrels.  Smaller lots see time in small French oak barriques.

Manchego

Sixty percent of all cheese made in Spain is Manchego.  It is the signature cheese of Spain and an EU protected DO (denominacion de origen) as Queso Manchego.  Manchega sheep provide the milk for this cheese which comes in four varieties: Fresca (aged two weeks), Semicurado (3 weeks-4 months), Curado (3-6 months) and Viejo (1-2 years).  The cheese may be either a pasteurized or raw milk version.  Ours is usually the pasteurized Curado and often labelled with its specific aging time.

Manchego is legally made only in the La Mancha plateau region in south central Spain.   This arid, windy and cold plateau of Don Quixote fame has long been known to us for its formidable dry red wines that scream for a savory red meat accompaniment.  These are legacy wines that must be appreciated with a meal and without varietal labelling.

Inside its brown herringbone exterior Manchego has an ivory colored paste with tiny pores.  Depending on age the texture moderates between its creamier style and hardness.  Manchego has a pleasantly sharp piquancy featuring fruit and nut flavors finishing with the customary sheep milk flavors at the end.  

If you are looking for something to go with your glass of red wine, this one is textbook.  It is also one of the few that would pair well with many white wines.  Check out the last sentence of the previous paragraph and imagine that taste with your favorite wine.  Salivating yet?