Sunday night we came back from what I can only qualify as a mind-blowing four days in Patagonia. We headed down to cover a new gastronomic program called Tasting Chile with the “extreme” fly-fishing/ecotourism cruise called Nomads of the Seas. The objective?...
Entertaining at our place has been on hiatus for the past couple months as work, life, and trips enveloped us and left me wanting to order out, not cook in for a crowd. This past long weekend over Easter in Santiago was very quiet. A small exodus to the beaches had...
You know, it’s really Amazing how close Mendoza is to Santiago. Normally, I just jump on the LAN shuttle and bam, 45 minutes later over the Andes, I am there. However, this time, Francisco and I decided to take the scenic route and drive, something we hadn’t...
AWESOME!!! A Chilean wine made the Wine of the Year (2008) for Wine Spectator. That means it beat the Premier Grand Cru, some rockin' Pinot, many, many others. Wow. Clos Apalta is the creme de la creme of Casa Lapostolle winery, a sultry, slinky vintage of 42%...
Oh, those Aussies. Always trying to throw out some shockers with the wine labels. I have to admit though, they always make me laugh and it inevitably creates this intense desire to try the wines to see what they are like. Is the wine that good (or bad),...
I won't be shy about it. I like O. Fournier wines. A lot. They have style. They are full of finesse and elegance. Soulful, balanced wines with depth that are totally accessible to any palate. Appropriate for any occasion from hamburgers to foie gras. And the price...
In a year's time, we receive a lot of people with our Culinary & Wine Tours business (www.lizcaskey.com) that are very savvy wine drinkers. They come to Chile and Argentina to experience the wines in their place of origin, taste the local terroir, and inevitably,...
It seems that most wine buffs are obsessed with how long a wine can, and should, be aged. Will it taste better? Will those tannins round out? Will it turn into hidden gold? For those collecting as a commodity, will it become so valuable that I resell it to buy more...
For many years, Sauvignon Blanc in Chile has been synonymous with the Casablanca Valley–that foggy valley off of Route 68 on the road to Valparaiso and Viña del Mar. Mostly dairy farms until 1982, winemaker Pablo Morandé was the first to pioneer and plant wines here,...
Lessons learned? Go with the local (beverage) culture, definitely pack lightly and if you really, REALLY want to take some wine, take one bottle, not four. But as they say in Brazil, TUDO BEM Okay, I will admit that there are times when wine just won’t fit the bill...
Appeared in LAN Airlines-IN Magazine: November 2006 Unedited version: In Mendoza, it seems that all roads lead to a winery given that more than 70% of all wine production in Argentina is concentrated here. Mendoza’s wine scene is booming and has come into its...
I asked this somewhat grotesque wine question at a dinner party not long ago, although my intentions were quite innocent; I simply wanted to understand why more and more I was running across these somewhat jarring “mousey”, “poopy”, “sweaty saddle” or “barnyard”...
The Story, The basic story is one repeated time and again in South America: French know-how plus Chilean terroir equals outstanding wines—or in the case of El Principal winery, that is how the story originally started, but from their it morphed into its own. The late...
Last night we had the ultimate wine-food pairing task: Indian food. I find that wine is often shrouded by this highly condimented cuisine so I was at a loss of what wine to choose that would stand up to something as "assertive" as the three curries I had prepared....
Perusing the international online newspapers yesterday, I found this intriguing (back) article from the Financial Times by Andrew Jefford on a topic close to my heart—and neck of the woods: Argentinean Malbec. I was particularly excited to read about them highlighting...
Ladies and Gentlemen: once again, the wine fair in Santiago known as Vinos de Chile (in its 12th version) will take place at the Hotel Plaza San Francisco September 27, 28, and 29. I am not a huge fan of large wine fairs as they are crowded, overwhelming, and in my...
Friday night, innocent cosmopolitans with friends at the Ritz’s new martini lounge led to an impromptu dinner party at my apartment. With freshly made Moussaka lurking in my oven and no company to share it with, I decided to invite over my drinking companions and have...
I just finished one of the most insightful and intelligent books about the wine world I have had the pleasure of reading in some time: The Accidental Connoisseur. Part of its lure is its engaging text written by Lawrence Osborne, a terrific writer who is...
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