Tasty Reds from Australia and Chile - Both Under $20!

Before wine tasting, we always paint plein air. This week was Kanaka Park in Maple Ridge.

Almost twenty years ago I went on a teacher exchange, with my family, for a year. Being Canadian, we had several countries like the US as an option as well as English speaking members of the Commonwealth. We focussed on those Commonwealth countries as we searched for a great place to live for a year.

We eventually settled on the UK - where we applied for the south of England but ended up going to the north of Scotland - but one of the countries we seriously considered was Australia.

There are so many things that are attractive in Australia;  people, sights, animals, food, and culture, to name a few. However, there are a lot of things that can kill you; spiders, snakes, jellyfish, giant centipedes, crocodiles, sharks, snails, and stonefish. Looking at our 7 and 10 year old children, at the time, we figured that we didn't want to lose either of them so we opted against Australia.

Even during that time in 2000, Australia had already garnered a reputation for excellent wines. The way to really test that out, of course, is in a wine tasting. The other wine we tried was from another place  I haven't been, Chile.

Starting with the wine from Chile, we had a 2017 Undurraga Sibaris Gran Reserva Carmenere ($18.50). On the nose I noticed black currant, pepper, black plum, black cherry and a hint of mushroom. On the palate, the same fruits were there with the addition of strawberry. It was a touch astringent, which I think was because it had pretty high acidity. It was a dry wine that had medium tannins and a medium finish. It was excellent with the cheese and crackers we were having (brie and Boursin) so  that is why I felt it would be a good match with food. My guess on this was that it was a Syrah from Languedoc. Oh well! This was a Good wine.

The second wine blew me away! It was a Quarisa Caravan Durif Petite Sirah from Australia ($15.99). Petite Sirah is the offspring of Syrah and another, near-extinct, grape. Durif is the grape's original name but was renamed when it was first imported to the states. As a warm climate grape, it loses a fair bit of acidity so isn't really a good wine to age.

But is it good to drink? Hell, ya!

This wine had aromas of pepper, pencil shavings (first time I've noticed that!), black plum, blackberry, and cassis.  On the palate there were additional flavours of pepper, leather and vanilla from oak. This had medium minus acidity, medium plus tannins, and quite a strong finish. This was nice on its own and would b e good with food as well. I think this is a steal for the price and may very well back up the truck so I can grab a load of this wine. I thought this was a GSM blend from Cote du Rhone - a village class, at least. Wrong again! I would rate this wine as Very Good.

I have been avoiding Australian wines of late as I have had too many overly bold reds that tends to turn me off, unless I am having a fatty steak. The Petite Sirah has definitely given me pause. I think it is worth delving into Aussie wines once again... just stay away from that Yellowtail!