Pinot Noir from Chile

Chile is one of those wine exporters that people politely agree produce good value wines of appreciable quality. I have to say, I have never had an excellent Chilean wine. Last night at dinner we had Villard’s Expression Reserve from Casablanca Valley. A 2006 bottle was probably far too young to drink. I got it in a good shop, or rather a well-appointed shop, of the new designy variety: nice balance, crisp, pebbly finish…I mean the shop. The wine itself did not qualify for such attribution: over-oaked and over here. At 14% it was probably slightly too heavy in alcohol, though perhaps this has something to do with exporting it. I could taste the pinot noir in there though, which is an achievement for some countries, for we all know how hard it is to reproduce real Burgundian style pinot noir, some French-inspired Californians being a notable exception.  The Chilean bottle looked suitably Burgundian though, the contemporary kind, light with a gentle midrift shape. It says on the bottle that Casablanca Valley enjoys sea breezes, which it says extend the ripening period of the hand-picked grape. It is rare for pinot noir not to be hand-picked, and I am not sure why the ripening season has to be long, since a grape is not an apple and the magic moment that gives the grape its excellence is not easy to identify. I disagree with the bottle that it is well-balanced, but I have had worse. Slightly too tarty for me (that strawberry flavour was a little too sugary for my taste), which ageing 50% in French barrels could not fight back. This was confirmed by tasting another heavier, more tanic, non-pinot wine and then going back to the Villard. Unfair? No, a good pinot noir can hold its own against even a tough Syrah or shiraz. The price was not bad though, so if you love pinot noir and want to try it, go for it. Perhaps a 2005 or 2003 would be better.  Doyle gives it a generous 10 out of 20.