Royal Vino de Chile 2004

Mission Codename: Hardly Monochromatic

Operative: Agent Red

Objective: Return to Operative favorite, Chilean producer Pengwine, and retreive their besat and most popular wine for our Operatives

Mission Status: Accomplished!

Current Winery: Pengwine

Wine Subject: 2005 Royal Cabernet Sauvignon

Winemaker: Chris Millikan and Max Eyzaguirre

Backgrounder: Operatives who have been with us this last year will recognize today’s target. Pengwine Winery of Maipo Valley in Chile was a big hit when we first read more...featured them here. Central Command has been keeping close tabs on Pengwine and after a careful extended surveillance, sent Agent Red to retrieve today’s unique and oh, so delicious, Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon. Read Agent Reds tasting notes and corresponding Mission Report, below.
Wine Spies Tasting Profile:

Look - Black cherry juice and garnet in color, with perfect clarity through its concentrated darker center. On swirling the surface of the wine appears bouncy and it takes some time to fully settle, leaving behind fat and skinny legs that move slowly down the glass

Smell - The aromas of this wine leap out of this glass, even on first pouring. Swirl the wine and bigger aromas waft out, hitting you on the nose before your nose is anywhere near the glass. Some would call this a profound nose, but I call it big and bold but not cloying. Now, about the flavors: Big aromatic of fresh flowers, giant currant, cherry, roasted blackberry, ancient suede and parchment, tobacco and a slight vegital quality that I can’t quite identify

Feel - Initially cool and wet, then mouth-coating and a little grippy as medium tannins appear and grab the middle and sides of the roof of the mouth

Taste - Big red currant, sweet cranberry, raisin and blackberry with a touch of bergamot (found in Earl Grey tea) and hints of cocoa powder, tomato vine and flinty earth

Finish - Delicious, big, long and fruity with a medium dryness and flavors that go from slightly tart to sweet, then tapering off as your watering mouth begs for another sip

Conclusion - This is a singular wine of remarkable distinction! This rich and chewy wine has layers of gigantic flavors and aromas but, oddly, I did not feel bowled over by it. We are so pleased to see Pengwine continuing to evolve as a winery, producing better and better wines with each new vintage. Chris has been a great friend to The Wine Spies and we are proud of his success. He and Max are making great wines that are original in their style and grand in their appeal. While some may shy away from Chilean wines, this is one to rush to. This wine is big, yes, but it also has balance and restraint. A big thanks to Chris, for letting us be the first retailer in America to have this superb wine!

Agent Sparkle adds: ”Whatever is going on in this wine, its thoroughly drinkable - even on its own. I usually prefer to drink wines with food, but found myself sipping away at this wine all on its own.”

Mission Report:

US/Chilean Pengwine Wines was conducting a winetasting at the bottom of the world, and I tagged along. It turned out to be an adventure.

Posing as a wine writer for a prestigious wine magazine, I was able to secure my cargo plane seat on this first-ever Antarctic wine event.

As I sat in the plane, I watched out the window as the airport workers clumsily loaded luggage and wine crates onto the planes loading ramp. After I saw my own luggage spill off the cart and onto the tarmac, I had visions of the wine crates suffering the same fate. Shortly thereafter, they did. Spilled wine made dark circles on the black pavement.

I dashed out of the plane with the winemaker and ran to save the wine. Many of the bottles were broken, but we managed to repack the remaining wine and load it safely onto the plane. After the winemaker conducted a few harried-sounding calls, he decided that he had enough wine for the expedition and that the trip was still on.

Two bumpy flights and a refueling stop later, we were out over some of the clearest water I had ever seen. The day was crystal clear and I could feel the excitement of the expedition members mounting.

The landing was flawless and the wine survived the trip intact.

We were greeted by airfield personnel (a single person) who accompanied us on our quest to find the natives. With wine bottles secured inside of parkas, we simply picked a direction and started walking. A short while later, a few dozen natives in sight, we stopped, opened bottles, poured and raised our glasses in a salute - to the penguins… Those on the glacier and those on the labels!

To learn more about this expedition, book a National Geographic cruise through the Antarctic - where Pengwine is an official selection aboard the ship.    (hide)

June 2008