Another Good Latin American Wine with Italian Heritage!

Mr. & Mrs. Wine Guy

  The fetching Mrs. Wine Guy and I recently hosted our very first holiday open house in our new home in Cuenca Ecuador.    We ended up with somewhere between 40 and 50 guests despite a recent virus wave that caused cancellation of their affirmative RSVPs by six different couples.   Whenever you are expecting a large crowd, it's always tough selecting the wine.  You can't buy that really nice wine you would like to serve and impress your guests with because the wine budget alone (never mine the food) could wreck your budget.   Since everybody knows me as "The Wine Guy" there is, however, the expectation that I'm going to serve something besides the normal party box wine.  (Actually, I enjoy going to someone else's party and drinking that stuff!)   Well in our case, I was fortunate to score a case or two of Canepa Cabernet Sauvignon Classico at 35% off its normal price. This wine normally retails in the $9 to $10 range in the USA and runs about $11 to $12 here in Ecuador.  No more party wine problem!

Early Canepa Winery Truck
photo from www.canepawines.cl

   Those of you who are regular readers know my penchant for both Italian food and Italian wine.  You also know I'm fond of touting the Italian connection many fine Latin American wineries have with Italy.  Scratch a fine winery down here and in nearly 8 out of 10 cases you'll discover a founder or winemaker of Italian descent.. So it is with Canepa, a solid Chilean producer founded by an Italian immigre from Genoa Italy in 1930.   Canepa is still family owned today but affiliated with Chile's well known Concha y Toro.  That winery as I have mentioned in this blog before also has Italian roots.

     Canepa has a reputation for quality carmenere which you would expect from a good Chilean producer.  They are also appreciated for the number of different quality Cabernet Sauvignons they produce including the aforementioned  Classico.   Canepa utilizes the addition of single digit percentages of carmenere to smooth out their cabs and they were also pioneers in Chile in utilizing stainless steel tank aging.  As a result, these are not the big bold muscular cabernets you might find in Napa or Sonoma.  They are, however, well crafted with typical caberernet dark fruit aromas and flavors. While the wood is absent, there are plenty of full grape tannins and these wines are, indeed enjoyable.  The classico makes for an exceptional party wine at an affordable price.  

   I knew I had done well when two of my guests emailed me after the event to make sure they knew what I had served and where to obtain it.  It's always a great experience with enjoy good wine with good friends.  That, to me, is what good wine is all about.