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Jay Miller tasting Chilean wines for The Wine Advocate
It’s lunchtime and Jay Miller is halfway through his third and final day of tasting 550 Chilean wines. The man who has earned Robert Parker’s full confidence over the course of 30 years and a thousand tastings is relaxed as he picks at a bit of smoked salmon and confesses that yes, he likes to eat well, but often on these trips eager hosts ply him with enormous meals that leave him groggy and overfed. And he still has another hefty round of wines to work through in the afternoon.
Miller—or rather Dr. Miller—bucked a long career in clinical psychology for the allure of the wine world, and he is often asked if he ever regrets it. “It was the best thing I ever did,” he responds categorically. “I spent years telling my patients that if they didn’t like what they were doing, they should do something else. Finally it was time for me to take my own advice.”
Miller caught the wine bug in 1978 while still in college. He worked in a Maryland wine shop where Robert Parker was a customer. Parker, then an attorney, was just starting his now influential publication, The Wine Advocate, and would invite Miller to join him in his tastings. Today it is Miller’s voice-or rather nose and palate-that pronounce the Parker ratings for wines from Chile, Argentina, Australia, Spain, Oregon, Washington, and on occasion, vintage Ports. “Fortunately for me, these are the areas that make the kinds of wines that I like.” He’s clearly a contented man.
On Tasting Technique
What are you looking for as you taste and score wines?
I look for what’s good. Winemakers tend to look for flaws, and wine competitions favor clean, pristine wines rather than wines with personality. I’m looking for pleasure. I’m looking for the Wow factor, for something extraordinary. A 100-point wine is an experience, a Zen concept—words only diminish it—but when it happens, you know it.
Why don’t you taste blind?
It’s just not practical for the number of wines I taste per session. I taste by producer, and go through line by line, which is more efficient for making my notes.
When you taste wines, are you thinking about their place with food?
No, not really. Sometimes I get a clear idea of a good food to pair it with, but I’m not necessarily thinking about food when I’m tasting. I’m looking for pleasure in the wine itself.
The Wines
You’re winding up your marathon tastings in Chile, what conclusions are you coming to?
Cabernet Sauvignon is strong, with a wide range of wines and price points and good quality throughout. Chilean Cabernet owes more to Bordeaux than it does to California. Thankfully there are not as many fruit bombs here. And the icons deserve to be icons. They’re great and evolve beautifully. Take Don Melchor, for example, or Antiguas Reservas-I recently tasted Antiguas Reservas back to the 1968 vintage and they were splendid!
Top Chilean Sommelier Ricardo Grellet serves Jay Miller
There have been dramatic changes in Carménère in recent years, and when it’s good, it’s really good! The $8–$10 range is now much better and no longer green at all. On past trips I’ve given the highest scores to Terrunyo Carménère, and yes, I’m a fan of Clos Apalta.
Chile makes very good Syrah, and handles the different styles well, although commercially it’s difficult to sell in the US, where Cabernet is still the King. Sure, people know Shiraz, from Australia, but don’t understand that Syrah is the same thing.
Pinot Noir was a surprise for me when I came for the Wines of Chile Annual Awards in 2006, and I continue to be pleasantly surprised.
Chilean Malbec was also a nice surprise. It’s very different from Argentina’s Malbec, with more red fruit, more claret-like.
The Crisis
Chilean wine has long been known for its excellent value for money ratio. Now that the economic crisis is upon us, what effect do you see this having on Chilean wine?
Wine drinking has gone up since the crisis began. Although restaurant sales are down 30%, retail sales are up in volume. People are staying in and drinking at home. Retail sales are quite strong now in the USD $10–$20 range, and now, instead of buying 1 bottle, people are buying 2 or 3. This is an excellent opportunity for Chile and record sales are predicted. Chile is perfectly positioned for today’s economic situation.
Chile, land of diversity
Chile has a very broad range of wines and styles, and its entry level wines are solid, so it’s easy to get customers to try something new and to move up to a better wine. Countries such as Australia and Argentina have made the mistake of concentrating too much on one varietal at the expense of diversity. Australia’s cheap “critter wines” have hurt its credibility, and consumers are reluctant to invest in a more expensive bottle. In Argentina’s case, people associate it with Malbec and nothing else, so it has locked itself into a niche.
Do you visit wineries and meet with winemakers when you travel?
Yes. This time I will go to San Antonio, Bio Bio and Elqui. I want to see these new D.O.s where these new wines are coming from.
** Interview and photos by Margaret Snook for Wines of Chile, March 2009
In the US, life as we know it tends to come to a screeching halt on Super Bowl Sunday. Everyone, old and young alike, gathers in homes and bars for the biggest NFL football game of the year. This year’s mega-event will take place on Sunday February 1 when the Pittsburgh Steelers face the Arizona Cardinals in Tampa, Florida.
Food is a big part of the festivities, and beer is the usual drink of choice. But Gary Vanerchuk—the hero of Wine Library TV—offers NPR radio host Scott Simon some vinous pairing alternatives, including a Maipo Valley Carmenere with the obligatory buffalo wings.
Listen to the “Wines That Go Well With Super Bowl Food” segment on National Public Radio’s Saturday Edition. (Saturday, January 31, 2009).
Part I: The Judges’ Overview
The morning began with an overview of the experience presented by the self-proclaimed “elder statesman” and Windows on the World wine educator Kevin Zraly who had polled his fellow jury members on their impressions formed over the three days of tasting sessions. Commenting that all tolled, the 9 panelists had more than 200 years of tasting experience among them, he said they all agreed that Chilean wines were indeed, “All Ways Surprising.”
The judges rated 446 wines on a 100-point scale in two price ranges-US$12-15.99 and US$16-$30-and came back impressed. A full 62% earned medals: 40 gold (91+ points), 96 silver (87-90 points), and 141 bronze (84-86 points). Some of the wines rated up to 98 points.
With respect to specific varietals and essentially limiting his comments to the 325 red wines in the competition, Zraly noted that the judges considered the Cabernet Sauvignons to be of consistently high quality. They appreciated the improvements made in Merlots, despite their demonization in the best-left-unnamed film. They were impressed by the fruity balance and finesse in the Carménère and particularly liked it in blends. In fact, they felt that many of the red blends were more interesting than single-varietal wines.
What truly stood out for many of the judges was the Syrah, citing the “triumph of a new style of Syrah”-and much to their great surprise, the Malbec. “We all agreed that this was world class wine with a big future ahead of it.” In fact, it was the Odfjell Vineyards 2006 Orzada Organic Malbec that earned the year’s trophy for Best of Show.
Other members of the panel commented on the 112 white wines tasted. Robert Bradshaw, Senior Buyer at Trader Joe’s, said that “Chile has the opportunity to win the hearts and minds of the US consumer with its Sauvignon Blanc” and that it can give any country “a run for its money.”
Pinot Noir also earned its share of kudos. Several of the judges remarked on the impressive Pinots they had tried over the past few days, and 17 appeared on the winners’ list. “Chile is doing Pinot right,” commented Josh Raynolds, of the International Wine Cellar, “I was stunned.”
There we go again… Chile: All Ways Surprising… or maybe that should be Stunning!
Le Gourmet TV andLe Gourmet TV has posted three new videos on Chilean wine that were filmed during the Chilean Wine Festival held in October in Toronto.
To see them, go to:www.legourmet.tv and click on “Wine” from the menu bar on the left hand side. There you’ll see:
“Botalcura Winery Chile,” in which winemaker Philippe DeBrus discusses the advantages of working in Chile. Born of a French winemaking family, he enjoys the freedom of working in a country that does not bind a winemaker’s hand with strict rules about blending varietals. Chile is a market-driven country, he says, which means the winemaker can “play with new varieties” to find exciting new styles of wines.
In “Chile and Carmenère Grapes” the discussion revolves around the history of Carmenere, Chile’s “showcase grape,” and the overall great value of Chilean wine, which “overdelivers in every category,” and the outstanding “historic vintage” 2007.
In the third video “Santa Carolina Winery Chile,” export manager Fernando Vargas discusses Carmenere, the “lost grape of Bordeaux” as the hot new wine for consumers looking for some excitement in their efforts to to break away from Cabernet and Chardonnay.
