Concha y Toro winery is located in Chile. To be more precise, in several large sections of Chile; Concha y Toro consists of over 11 thousand acres spread between the primary wine producing regions of Chile, in Maipo, Maule, Rapel, Colchagua, Curico, and Casablanca. The area is protected by natural barriers— the Atacama Desert, the driest in the world, to the north, the glacial Ice Fields in the south, the Pacific ocean to the west, and the Andes in the east. Concha y Toro is the largest producer of wine in Latin America. The Concha y Toro Vineyard was founded by Melchor Santiago de Concha y Cerda and his wife, Emiliana Subercaseaux, in 1883. The initial plantings were of traditional varieties from France's Bordeaux region, consisting of Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Merlot, and Carménère.

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Carménère was, in the mid 1800s, a staple of French Bordeaux wine blends (in combination with Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec and Petit Verdot). The Carménère's simultaneously herbal and spicy qualities provided a pleasant contrast for the other wines in the traditional Bordeaux blend, though it was prized as much as for the deep red color (the name Carménère is cognate with carmine, a deep vibrant red—though the name seems to be inspired more by the deep red of the grape vines in fall). Carménère was successfully planted in Chile, where the original French stock thrived, and frequently, grew alongside Merlot vines.

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Here is the perfect glass for that daily glass of wine the doctors are always talking about.

I was only dimly aware of Grape Vines until recently, when I went tracking down a particular variant of Red Vines.  

(Still no luck finding the all-natural version, Natural Vines, by the way.  The Red Vines website says they're available at Haggen stores here in Washington.  I visited my nearest local Haggen store (20 miles away) and they didn't have any.  But they did have the authentic Haribo black licorice wheels imported from Germany.  

I meant to bring them home and photograph them and write a review, but I ate them all on the drive home and then I had a tummy ache but I was not sorry.  So I guess that's my review of imported Haribo licorice wheels: too delicious to wait until you get home.)


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I note that this bottle of Charles Creek En Casa California Pinot Grigio was a find at the local Bargain Grocery Store. It's summer, it's hot, and the perfect weather for drinking Pinto Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc. This particular Pinot Grigio is from a small California family winery based in Sonoma (and Napa) California. Gerry and Bill Brinton are the proprietors, and they rely on Kerry Damskey as their "consulting winemaker." They produce a variety of red and white wines, including some limited release wines.

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I honestly don't think you can go wrong with Columbia Crest. It's astonishing that they manage to produce two tiers of inexpensive wine in such large quantities at such high quality. They seem to own the Washington Merlot table wine market with their Grand Estates Merlot, and the fame at having their 2006 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon picked as #1 by Wine Spectator obviously isn't harming their over-all reputation for quality and price point miracles.

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Mention Riesling to most wine drinkers, and they'll think Germany, or South Africa, and if they're savvy, Washington state. Riesling made its initial reputation in Germany, and moved from there to South Africa and Washington, among other places. But the nomenclature for those of us who are not native German speakers can be more than a little confusing. Add to that the fact that some label conventions, like "Johannesburg Riesling" have been discontinued for reasons of appellation appropriation and legality. The German labeling system is carefully explained here, but in broad terms it groups Rieslings by how much sugar the wines contain; that's all well and good.

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I've been looking out for Chilean wine for some time, ever since a Chilean friend told that because of the earthquake earlier this year, wineries had to pour out wine (in addition to losing wine from damaged barrels and bottles) because of various legal requirements about food storage, export, and then of course, insurance. Chile has a robust, vibrant tradition of wine production. Vinas Chilenas Reserve Sauvignon Blanc is one of those bottled wines that are exclusively available at Trader Joe's. There's a note in the fine print that makes reference to the American Beverage Group, in California. The grapes were grown in Chile's Valle Centrale, or "central valley," the most important wine region, located right across from Argentina's most important wine region.

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There's a historic precedent for specific wine blends or varietals to have brief bursts of popularity. For a while, probably because of the film Sideways, Pinot Noir has been the wine to buy, even at the table wine level, and Chardonnay has been on the wane along with merlot, in terms of popularity. Now, granted, I suspect that the Chardonnay glut of the 1990s has more than a little to do with the public's fickle response, evidenced by the flash of popularity of cheap Charles Shaw Chardonnay, but I also suspect the bulk California artifically oaked Chardonnays also played a part.

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Wineberry Box WineMost boxed wines have only a slightly higher reputation than Boone's Farm Strawberry wine, but some wineries are trying to change the image of their box wines by re-branding them and improving the packaging. Box wines have the advantage of being easier to transport and are more easily recycled, which makes them more environmentally friendly than bottled wines. In addition, because of the foil packaging, the wine lasts a lot longer before it goes bad. However, despite the benefits, not many wine drinkers have converted to box-wine drinkers.  


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