señor tequila cantina - Epicurean Charlotte Food & Wine Magazine

Many of the vineyards have the Andes as a backdrop,
making them stand out against the snowcapped
mountains. Chile is a somewhat unique looking country
that stretches down the west coast of South America. It
is, in fact, 2,700 miles long—the longest country in the
world—but only averages 109 miles in width.
The climate in the wine region of Chile is very similar
to California, with average summer temperatures
ranging from 60˚F to 85˚F. Chile really has the perfect
climate for wine growing, with sheltered peaks on one
side and the ocean cooling the land on the other.
In Argentina, the vineyards are located in the western
part of the country among the foothills of the Andes.
Because of the high altitude, Argentina does not have
problems with many of the fungi and insects that affect
vineyards in other countries. This certainly aids with
cultivation of wines, especially the production of organic
varieties. Both countries also have the benefit of the
melting snow from the Andes Mountains, which provides
irrigation to the vineyards.
Spain is not the only country to have influenced
both Chile and Argentina in the development of wine,
however. France and Italy have definitely had their say.
France introduced Malbec to Argentina and their
Bordeaux proved a strong favorite in Chile, while the
Italians brought Bonarda to Argentina.
It is often difficult to select a wine when you may not
be familiar with the country of origin, so I am going to recommend
a couple of my favorites. All the wines that I am
going to suggest typically cost less than $12.00 per bottle.
Personally, I enjoy a nice vibrant Merlot, so my first
choice is Travesia Merlot from Chile, a wine that is easy
to drink with or without food. This is a super smooth red
wine, lush with the fruits of cherry and plum that come
to the forefront, giving it a velvety taste.
Another Chilean wine that offers good value, this
time a white, is Travesia Sauvignon Blanc, a fresh and
crisp choice. Light and refreshing with a combination of
grapefruit and mouth-watering lemon, this wine from the
Central Valley of Chile sells for under $10.00 a bottle, a
tremendous value.
My personal favorite comes from the Casablanca
Valley—Veramonte Merlot—and costs around $12.00 per
bottle. It is without a doubt one of Chile’s true Merlots.
The Veramonte has a wonderful aroma of rich blackberries
and cherry spiced with black pepper, along with
hints of eucalyptus and mint, with a subtle underlay of
oak. It has a youthful flavor of dark fruit and is rich and
full of generous berry flavors.
Two wines that I recommend from Argentina—Tilia
Cabernet Sauvignon and Tilia Malbec. The Cabernet
is the king of the red grape—a small berry with a thick
skin that creates a wine high in color. It is earthy with the
taste of black currant cassis, herbs, cedar, and tobacco.
Malbec is the national grape of Argentina; it creates
spicy wines reminiscent of blackberries and chocolate
with a velvety texture. It is dark, full bodied and inky.
Lastly, my personal favorite is the Don Paula
Malbec 2009, which has all the ingredients that make
the Malbec grape so special. You may find that this wine
costs a couple of dollars more, but believe me, it’s well
worth it.E
Eddie Mitchell, who is London (UK) born, has lived in the U.S. for 28 years, North Carolina for
18. While playing professional soccer, he visited over 60 countries.
1 www.epicureancharlotte.com volume • issue 2
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I'm not a morning person; you will never
find me voluntarily awake before 7 a.m. Nor
am I a night owl; I finally got past my youthcrazed
drive to stay up until all-hours, and
nowadays, the nights I'm awake past midnight
are few and far between. I, for one, peak and
thrive right about mid-day; it's during those
hours that I'm at my absolute best. In fact,
we all have our
unique biorhy thms
and body clocks, with
low points and high
points and plateaus
in-between. And you
know what? So does
wine—and even during
just one evening.
Think of it this
way: bottled wine is
dormant wine. While
plugged up in a glass
bottle for months
(if not years), wine
is, well, asleep. And
just as we do while
we sleep, a wine
slowly changes; it
develops, grows and
transforms during
the period of time
before the bottle in
which it's contained
is opened. Similar
to when we awake
from our own sleep,
a wine starts off a
bit sullen and groggy,
and after being uncorked, really begins
to show itself, to awaken to its full glory and
express and interact to its fullest potential.
So where am I going with this? Simple: you'll
notice that only until after a solid few hours
of having opened a bottle of wine, that it's at
its absolute best. And the reason is oxygen:
the very thing that will ultimately degrade a
wine and turn in into vinegar (in a biochemical
lying dormant
by nikitas magel
reaction whose explanation is beyond the
scope of this article) will, in the short term, be
the same thing that seduces it into its most
expressive state.
The most ready example of this can be found
in a bottle that's opened on one evening—then
set aside unfinished, re-corked and consumed
the following evening—is almost invariably better
the following night.
And that's simply
because the wine has
been exposed to just
enough air to react
with the complex
aroma and f lavor
compounds to bring it
to its best.
Any time I have
the chance to plan a
bit in advance, I open
a bottle of wine in
the morning before
I start my day, pour
a bit into a glass (it's
not enough to just
uncork it—you need
to get some air into
that bottle) and then
set it aside until later
that evening. Sure,
the idea of opening
a bottle of wine while
you're hankering for a
early morning caffeine
fix may be unappealing,
but you're not
sipping any thing…
just doing a minute or so of preparation.
So get over it! Whip out the bottle, open
it, pour a bit in a glass and push it aside until
dinner time. It truly does make a difference.
What's more is you'll notice—assuming you've
had no company to help you finish it off that
same evening—that the leftover wine is even
better the following evening, after having been
aerating for a day and a half.
epicurean charlotte food & wine march • april 2011
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