Our second stab at our girls “wine club*” was a success. Eight women came over to my house (perfect number), and we celebrated Cinco de Mayo by indulging in wines from Chile. When I say indulge I mean drank too much wine, in a short period of time, but had a complete blast!

Wine Club at My House

Wine club was scheduled to be held at another person’s house, but at the last minute she found out that a softball game was scheduled for that day (she’s the coach). So after much back and forth we decided that I would just host this one because everyone had already scheduled to go out that night. My friend did some research and decided that we would be trying wines from Chile. We all thought it would be a fun way to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, and since our stores don’t sell wines from Mexico (are there Mexican wines?) we’d just improvise a little. So Chile it was!

The Evening’s Festivities

We had eight women show up for this month’s gathering. It was a perfect number because that is the exact amount that could sit around my kitchen table. It was such a great mixed group. I love it when you can make new friendships by meeting with other women this way. I had some college friends, some neighborhood friends, and some who are just friends….and it was wonderful. We always start out very dignified. The person who brought the wine would read the bottle and explain the type of wine it was…then we’d have a little taste. This was great for a little while but soon everyone is carrying on and drinking which ever wine was their favorite! Wine club is a great gossip fest!

I figured I would share our tasting! It turns out that there seems to be one main brand of wine from Chile that is sold in the local liquor stores, because we had 3 bottles (all different kinds) from the same winery!

Our Wines

  1. Anakena Souvignon Blanc: 2008 Vendimia Chile: Crisp Gooseberries and wild blossom. This one was a favorite. it was light and crisp and very fruity. Also, very refreshing.
  2. Anakena Ona: 35% Viognier, 35% Riesling, 30% Chardonnay. This one was tasty also. It was less sweet than the first one but still crisp.
  3. Frontera: Conchay y Toro: Chardonnay. This one was very dry.
  4. Big Tatto Red: 50%Cabernet 50%Syrah: 2006 Colchagua Valley: This one had an interesting story. There is a breast cancer ribbon that hangs from the bottle. The story is that this vineyard was started by two brothers whose mom died of breast cancer. Therefore, 50 Cents of each bottle sold is donated to charity. It wasn’t the best tasting (although I don’t discriminate), but it’s still a good cause!
  5.  Anakena Cabernet: Chile: Full bodied bursting with fruit. Blackberry, vanilla. This one was a hit! You could really taste the flavor of this wine.

The winner of the white category was the Anakena Souvignon Blanc, and the winner of the red category was the Anakena Cabernet. Overall the winner was the Souvignon Blanc! It is definitely worth the buy and would be perfect for sipping on the porch on a nice summer evening.

It was a little tough to get started this morning after the previous night’s festivities. I must make a mental note for next month: Drink Less Wine at Wine Club!

So here is a little fun challenge…run out to your liquor store, buy any of the wines mentioned and give me your take on it! All were tasty so you won’t be disappointed!