Friday, September 28, 2012

Old World Meets New at Vina Los Vascos


As early as 1815 Chateau Lafite Rothschild has had a reputation for producing some of the finest and most elegant wines in the world. In 1855 Lafite was awarded the honor of First Growth status within the 1855 Classification.

Fast forward to 1988 when Los Vascos, one of Chile's oldest wine estates is managed by Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite) who starts a modernization and investment program. Los Vascos is a 560 hectare vineyard located in Caneten Valley of Colchagua province in Chile. The goal here under the direct technical supervision of Domaine Barons de Rothschild (Lafite) is to produce the finest and most balanced wines with elegance and harmony. 

I recently tried one of the Los Vascos wines myself and was impressed with 2010 Los Vascos Sauvignon Blanc. It beholds lovely aromatics of grapefruit, white peach, tropical fruits and a hint of basil. There is a zippy lime acidity that awakens your palate and continues to offer more tropical notes. As well as the fruit I really enjoy the notes of fresh herbs, as if they were just plucked from your garden; chives, basil, parsley and tarragon.

Suggested food pairing you ask?

For me personally I would make a pesto with basil, chives and parsley, a squeeze of lemon or lime, toasted pine nuts, salt, pepper and olive oil. I would toss the pesto with angel hair pasta and then garnish the dish with a healthy does of fresh chevre (or goat cheese) allowing it to melt into the warm pesto pasta and becoming a gooey and delicious creamy sauce. 

Slainte!