For me, the thought of Concha y Toro immediately conjures past scenes of cool forests, mountains, streams, and pleasant sunshine. Located just a short drive from the capital of Chile, which is Santiago, Concha y Toro is the largest vineyard in that country in terms of volume and hectares. And despite its wide lines and offerings, it has managed to command the respect of critics and aficionados. I remember visiting the rather eerie Casillero del Diablo, a sort of Fort Santiago type of bodega. The owners sustained the legend that the devil is lurking inside the bodega to scare off wine thieves, hence the name. This is only one of their lines and it is of very good value, consistency, quality, and availability.

At a recent dinner held by winesandspiritsclub-philippines.com, we tried to get a modest range of their lines, which are now just coming in to the country. Our  charming hostess for the evening, the brand manager for Concha y Toro, Gail Gonzales, gave a flowing exposition on her wines and the allied imported products her company, Fly Ace.

While waiting for dinner, Fried Doña Elena olives with almonds laced with citrus amplified their entry level wines called Fronterra. The Fronterra Chardonnay 2008 was a straw-colored wine with an onslaught of green apple and tropical fruit and finishes with ripe apples and light minerals. But what surprised everyone was the Fronterra Carmenere 2007. For less than P300, it was leafy and dusty with spicy reed and notes of vetiver. It was aromatic and had hints of freshly-shaved pine wood and eucalyptus with tart red cherries and berries. The almonds and the ripe flavor of the olives rounded the wine quite well. Surprisingly, it also paired off with garum, a puree of black olives, eggs, and fermented fish which we spread on fried pasta sheets.

For dinner, a Marques de Casa Concha 2005 Chardonnay was first poured. Made from the prime Pirque vineyard grapes of Maipo Valley, it was lightly golden and stayed in French oak for nine months. Nuances of vanilla, pineapple, butter, and custard on the finish were detectable, having the vanilla and nutty aromas on top. This went well with a white pizza topped with sardines and onions. Complementing its acidity and tropical fruit flavors was a side salad of grape and anchovy garnished with mango passion fruit gel.

The next chardonnay was a limited release called Amelia, which is not available in the Philippine Market. It had a lighter gold color and higher acidity compared to the Marques de Casa Concha 2005. This 2006 single vineyard chardonnay for the el Triangulo vineyard merged its tartness with mineral flavors and tropical fruits such as papaya and star apple with a hint of lanzones as the temperature slightly rises higher as the wine opens up. However, I preferred the Marques de Casa Concha much more.

Both chardonnays worked well with a piping hot pastry-encrusted soup. The creamy leek base brought out a rich combined liquor of clams, mussels, and squid made into a creamy, leeky veloute served smoking hot with a puffed cover of flaky, buttery pastry crust.

For the fish course, a Casilltero del Diablo Pinot Noir 2008 Reserva Casablanca Valley was served. I felt the wine was a bit shy, as I had to concentrate more to catch the leafy hints with shades of chocolate, jam, and cooked strawberries. What brought it out was a lightly smoked sole with tea, herbs, and rice that was later oven-roasted. This was given a liberal saucing of caper beurre blanc that seemed to open the doors of our palates for this pinot.

After the sorbet, the 90-pointer Marques de Casa Concha Merlot 2005 was served. This Rapel Valley wine from the Peumo Vineyards had milk chocolate aromas, notes of vetiver, freshly-sawn wood, red and dark plums, and black pepper. This was a good foil to our grilled beef riblets smothered with sautéed mixed mushrooms.

Beef riblets are quite tasty, being the meat between a cow’s ribs. It interplays flavors of marbled meat connective tissue and fat. One needs a rather complex wine for this and the Marques de Casa Concha Merlot 2005 is a great pairing.

The most anticipated wine was our last bottle, which aside from the Marques was another 90 point rater from the Alto Maipo Valley. This was the Don Melchor Cabernet Sauvignon 2006. This got softer by the medium, rare juices of the beef. The Don Melchor was delicately silky and velvety on the palate. It had a plumy, minty, and light, mentholated character with a long finish.

One can truly say that it is still one of Chile’s best cabernets and it is readily available due to its healthy volume. It is also a pure cabernet because Chile has never been hit by phylloxera which has ravaged Europe and the U.S.

Finally, to cap the dinner, we had a creamy and wonderful ice cream terrine doused with a cherry sauce.

I thought the night was over, but I was asked to stay by some collector friends, Arnie del Rosario and Jay Labrador. And, they whipped out their old Don Melchors for tasting. We sampled the 2002 first; it was soft plumy, with black fruit flavors and aromas, and balanced acid.

Then came the 2005, which still had very light tannins. It can probably use a couple more years of lying down and a final decanting to soften it. It had spice characters, was peppery, mentholated with red fruits and nutmeg. When asked what I preferred, I had mentioned that both wines were very drinkable, with 2002 at its peak. But, I had to agree with Johnny Revilla that I still liked the vibrance of the fruit which 2006 had, as I grabbed and poured the last of that bottle on my glass. In wine, I guess the last drops are outstanding, especially if there are many on your table.