Report from - Cono Sur Lunch and Tasting ... June 1, 2010
21 Jun 2010- Details
- Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy
I find myself at Far Niente Restaurant, in downtown Toronto, starring at 4 glasses of Cono Sur wine on my way through an 8 wine tasting and lunch.
What’s in a Name …
For years I have thought “Cono Sur” was a play on the word connoisseur, and I’ll bet most of you have too. But Cono Sur is one of the wineries under the Concha Y Toro umbrella and was owned by the Tocornal family – Vina Tocornal – but Concha Y has a Tocornal vineyard, so to avoid confusion they changed the name in 1997 to Cono Sur, meaning South Cone, which is exactly what South America looks like on the world map. Huh, now you know.
The Wines …
The lunch and tasting was led by chief winemaker Adolfo Hurtado, whose passions lie with Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Riesling – not exactly the typical grapes you think of when Chilean wines are mentioned. When you think Chile you think of those big, full-bodied reds that blow your mind with their intense flavours and bold aromas; you don’t think Chardonnays, Rieslings or Pinot Noirs … do you? But Adolfo is insistent that these wines can be made, and made very well. I have previously reviewed a few Cono Sur wines on my What I’m Drinking Tonight blog – including the current releases of the Riesling and the Viognier. Over lunch I tried 2 Syrahs, 2 Pinot Noirs, a Cabernet Sauvignon, a red blend, the Riesling, a Chardonnay and a Sauvignon Blanc … I found all to be appealing in their own right and their value for quality ratio is almost too good to be true (I guess we’ll have to wait for them to hit shelves to see if those prices stay unbelievable) – here are my top three wine selection of the tasting: (find out what the best wines of the afternoon were by clicking here)
