Everyone has his or her favourites.
The Preamble
For me, for the price-point, I’ve always loved the Echeverria Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva. The 2009 was recently released and I already have two cases! I think we first had the 2003 or 04, and since then – we’ve been hooked.
I’ve written about our trip to Chile before; this wine was another reason we went there. My friends at Lifford Wine Agency had set up a tasting for us – and by some kind of miscommunication (I have to take to the blame here), we missed it. When we got to the Echeverria Family Winery, no one had any idea we were coming (as we were supposed to be there the day before). I apologized profusely, up and down, in as many languages I could, and in the very most of broken Spanglish I could muster.
Needless to say, they were not prepared for us. My wife had that look on her face that likely all wives do when their husbands screw up. Anyway, and I honestly think that because of how horrible my Spanish was/is, they did a tasting for us right there in their office. They brought out the accountant, who spoke the best English, to facilitate (and two other very kind folks).
We were enjoying our tasting and to our surprise, the wine maker showed up near the end. We had a lovely conversation with him. He asked which year (of the Reserva) we enjoyed the best and I had said the ’05 was my fav (he liked the ’07).
Anyway, they were too kind to us (even though I think a few people were not happy with us at Lifford and at the winery). At the end of it all, we left with half a dozen bottles or so.
My Review
In the glass: deep red, almost dark purple colour.
On the nose: woodsy, peppery, black fruits.
On the palate: cedar, peppercorns, plums, cherries and chalk with a smooth, medium length finish.
The Echeverria Cabernet has always been fairly well balanced and is considered a medium to full bodied red made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon grapes and has 13.5% alcohol per volume.
Every year has been a little different, but overall the quality has remained high. I have no doubt in my mind that the 2 cases I recently purchased – I’ll enjoy!
I’ve never had a problem recommending this wine.
3.25 Stars
Grape Stains by Jimmy 