Adobe Emiliana Sauvignon Blanc Reserva

The Ambassador of Chile in New Delhi recently invited the members of Delhi Wine Club to a special wine dinner at his residence which featured four unique wines from his country.

Whereas all these wines enticed every one of us with their charm, but personally speaking, the one which I liked the most was the Adobe Emiliana Sauvignon Blanc Reserva – an organic white wine from the Casablanca Valley in Chile.

Organic wine is a wine made from grapes grown in accordance with the principles of organic farming which exclude the use of artificial chemical fertilisers, pesticides, fungicides and herbicides.

Casablanca Valley Wine Region

The Casablanca Valley wine region, known for its cool-climate white wines, is located around 100 km northwest of the capital city of Santiago. Located at 33 Degrees South, this wine region is one of nearest to the Equator. This may make you wonder that how come then, is it considered a cool climate region. The answer lies in the geography lessons we learned in our school days – the cooling effect of the Pacific Ocean, perpetuated by the Humboldt Current.

The Humboldt Current

The Humboldt Current, also called the Peru Current, is a cold ocean current that flows in the along the coast of South America.

As the Casablanca Valley is only about 30 kilometers from the Pacific Ocean, it is strongly influenced by the cooling effects of the Humboldt Current. Cool afternoon breezes blow across valley, from the ocean towards the mountains in the east, thereby making this valley as a cool climate wine region.

Adobe Emiliana Sauvignon Blanc Reserva Wine

At the very outset let me break this name of the wine for you.

Adobe – the first word in the name of this wine is Adobe, which refers to the bricks made by mixing clay and straw with water and drying it under the hot Chile Sun.

These sustainable bricks have been used in the organic wine cellar of the winery.

Emiliana – the second word in the wine nomenclature is Emiliana, which infact is the name of the winery.

Emiliana is today one of the largest organic wine producers in Chile.

Sauvignon Blanc – As we all know is the name of the grape varietal in this wine.

Reserva – the last word in the wine name i.e Reserva is one of most interesting words in the world of wines, which has a different meaning in various wine producing nations. For example, in Spain “Reserva” designation means that the wine has been aged for a minimum of 3 years, with at least 12 months in oak barrels, before being released for sale.

But in Chile, the word “Reserva” doesn’t have any such connotation, and it only means that the wine is of a very high quality where extra attention has been paid to ensuring quality both in the vineyards and the winery.

An organic wine with wondrous notes

Coming back to the wine dinner, I finally had the Adobe Sauvignon Blanc Reserva in my glass where it displayed a light yellow colour. As I gave a gentle swirl to the glass and brought it near my nose, the wine unleashed its bouquet of pleasant aromas, which somewhat took me by a surprise, since subconsciously I related such aromatics to the wines like Gewürztraminer and Riesling. A beautiful Sauvignon Blanc I muttered to myself.

On the palate too the wine opened wonderfully revealing itself to be completely dry, in the true sense of the term. This was later confirmed when I learned that it was bottled with only 1.1 grams of residual sugar.

Finally, this youthful white wine from Casablanca valley, also passed the test of the taste buds by pairing perfectly with the home made Chilean delicacies made at home in the Ambassador’s kitchen.

So that’s all for now. I really hope that you liked my experience of savouring this beautiful organic wine from Chile.

Cheers !!

Mukul Manku