The weekend is upon us and you may have your favorite, expensive bottle ready to open. But there is more than enough space on the wine bar to open a few bottles of wine under or around $20. It’s always fun for me to taste then suggest wines that are at or around that affordable price range. I hope you find the wines reviewed below interesting enough to purchase and pair with a Friday night dinner at home, with friends who drop by unexpectedly, a Sunday supper, or with a good book waiting for you on the back porch!
The wines recommended this week are from two sub-regions of the Coquimbo Region in Chile and were sent to me as samples. The area borders the Atacama Desert, is the most northerly of Chile’s wine regions, and has been known for producing table grapes and Pisco. The sub-regions of Elqui, Limari, and Choapa were developed in the late 1990s and are beginning to positively impact the premium wine production in Chile thanks to new wineries using modern, innovative techniques. All of the valleys boast abundant sunshine, cool breezes, mountain air, and brilliant stars at night. I have found that the vast majority of wines from Chile represent a terrific value.
A white wine, the Maya 2013 Pedro Ximenez is produced in the Elqui Valley and the Olivier family, who started Vina Mayu in 2005, were the first to bring winemaking to that sub-region. Pedro Ximenez vines, seventy years old, are grown in the free-form “alberello” style to increase their density as well as the “parral” style of trellising. Low yield in order to increase the fruit quality is maintained. Although the Pedro Ximenez grapes are mostly distilled to make pisco, lovely wines are being produced. In my glass with colors of pale lemon with strands of gold, the intense aromas of the Maya 2013 were of citrus, lime, and zest. Refreshing and fruity with a bit of salinity and a bracing finish, this dry wine was just what I needed on a hot late summer day. Cost is $15.
Cheers to your weekend! ~ Cindy
