Chilean wines offer more than just value for money

When the focus turns towards best buys, the spotlight always seems to find the wines of Chile. The long and thin South American country sandwiched between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes mountains has an international reputation for delivering impressive wines at affordable prices.

It comes as little surprise then to see the LCBO place special emphasis on selections from Chilean producers just as post-holiday credit card bills come due.

But bang for your buck isn’t the only angle to this weekend’s Vintages campaign, which centres on Chilean wineries where grape growing and winemaking efforts are executed in an environmentally friendly, economically viable and socially responsible manner.

It underscores the efforts outlined by the Chilean wine industry’s sustainability code, which is looking to govern all winemakers by 2025.

Fourteen wineries are featured in the January roundup, including a number of well-known names, such as Concha y Toro, Errázuriz and Montes. The range of whites, reds and even a sparkling wine is impressive. They are enjoyable wines that are good value, even as the price point creeps north of the $15 and under range.

There are a number of highlights, including Perez Cruz 2015 Cot (another name for the Malbec grape) and Montes 2015 Outer Limits Wine Slopes Red, which is an atypical blend of Carignan, Grenache and Mourvèdre grapes grown in extreme conditions near the winery in the Colchagua Valley.

Adventurous wine lovers should seek out the Valdivieso 2010 Vigno Éclat ($29.95, 541128) that is part of the Vignadores de Carignan collective spearheaded by Canadian Derek Mossman Knapp and created to champion the old vineyards of Carignan in the off-the-radar Maule Valley.

The Vigno Eclat is more savoury and earthy than the fruity and fullbodied Cordillera de los Andes Cabernet Sauvignon Special Reserve recommended in this space, but it’s an authentic taste of a complex and thoughtful wine made to reflect the unique charms of unsung grapes from an unrecognized region that is something that’s truly special and couldn’t possibly be made anywhere else in the world. Now, that’s really something to value.