Chile revisited

11:16am Saturday 17th May 2008

Comments (0)   Have your say »

HARVESTING grapes is hard work, as I found out during a visit to Chile just over two years ago. It was April and being in the southern hemisphere, this was early autumn and the vines were heavy with grapes.

I was part of a small group of wine writers who were spending a few days visiting wineries and vineyards in the country. To make a change from the other arduous tasks that had been arranged (tasting wine, eating in nice restaurants, that sort of thing) we had been invited for a morning's grape picking at Errazuriz's Don Maximiano estate in the Aconcagua Valley.

We started work at first light, to avoid the worst of the heat in the vineyard. It was a splendid setting, the early morning rays bathing the neat rows of vines in a warm glow with the snow-capped peaks of the Andes dominating the horizon.

I spent a few hours snipping, protected by thick gloves, sturdy boots and armed with a pair of secateurs, managing to fill six baskets with bunches of perfectly ripe shiraz grapes. I was hot, exhausted and ready for lunch by the time the voluntary labour was over.

The real pickers nearby had put us to shame with the amount of grapes they had gathered in the same morning. These seasonal workers are paid by the weight of fruit they pick, and you would not believe the speed at which they operate, running between the vines with the trays of grapes.

The statistical probability of the juice from any of the grapes I picked being in the bottle I tasted last week is minute, but it felt special to be opening a bottle of wine that I had at least had some involvement with. Of course that wouldn't influence my opinion of the wine (well, not much anyway).

Errazuriz Max Reserva Shiraz 2006 has just landed on these shores. Powerful and structured, it has aromas of berries, polished leather and dark fruit flavours with chocolate, vanilla and spicy black pepper.

I can promise you that I have had nothing to do with the other two, New World red recommendations this week, other than I thought they were pretty good when I tasted them.

From the other side of the Andes, the Mendoza region of Argentina to be more specific, comes Familia Zuccardi Reserve Bonarda 2006. Rich, full and robust, it has big flavours of cherry, blackberry, vanilla and spice with mouth filling tannins.

Or snap up this bargain from California, in the Co-op's latest round of promotions. McQuillan's Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon 2006, hailing from the old gold-prospecting area near Lodi, is big on cassis and plum flavours, with clove, vanilla and chocolate notes too.

• Errazuriz Max Reserva Shiraz 2006, £9.99 at Majestic, £11.99 at Threshers (three for the price of two) 17/20
• Familia Zuccardi Reserve Bonarda 2006, £6.99 at Oddbins 16/20
• McQuillan's Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon 2006, £3.49 down from £5.49 at the Co-op until the end of the month. 16/20