My new untitled wine blog (#1)

How exciting! I finally have my very own wine blog where I can tell the world (or anyone who will listen) all about the wines I love. I really want to focus on $20 or under wines so that my friends and the bulk of the population can enjoy them along with me. I will have none of that pretentious mentality which states that in order for a wine to be good, it has to be expensive. I've had some great wines for under $20 and have recomended many of them to friends who have enjoyed them just as much as I did. Hence the idea of a blog that talks about wines that are accessible to almost everyone.

Now I do have a little problem with this blog and that is that I don't have a name for it. I've asked around but I haven't yet heard any suggestions that I really like. So in order to solve this little problem of namelessness, I'd like to open up the naming of the blog to my friends and possibly also friends of friends reading this post. Let the naming contest begin!!
Also, I'm sure I'll always be looking for ways to make this blog better so any improvement ideas or suggestions will be welcomed.

Now for my first wine, I'd like to write about a wine that gets high praise everytime i recommend it to someone (or as has happened, people i recommend it to then go on and recommend it to someone else). It is a wine that sells for $9.95 in the BC Liquor Store and in my opinion, for 10 bucks, you can't get a better deal. The wine is called Mapu and it's a chilean blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Carmenere. The wine is a Chilean venture by Baron Philip de Rothschild, the owner of a first growth chateau in Bordeaux which is a top wine producing region in France. In Bordeaux, Chateau Mouton-Rothschild is a top rate wine and the Baron's venture with Robert Mondavi in California, Opus One, is also a highly rated wine and as such is fairly expensive. But this chilean wine tastes like if it was made with the same care and dedication as the much more expensive french and californian wines but like chilean wines in general, it sells for much less.
The grape variety of Carmenere has built itself a reputation in Chile. While originally from France, it has thrived in the Chilean climate and makes some great varietal (100% carmenere) wines as well as some great blends, such as this Cabernet Sauvignon/Carmenere wine. The wine is a deep ruby colour and imparts a prominent nose of red berries such as fresh raspberries and cherries. There are also some toasted oak and chocolate smells and a slight medicinal or eucalyptus smell common to chilean wines. On the palate this wine is extraodinary. It has medium tannis and medium body and is extremely well balanced making this wine a joy to drink. The flavours in the mouth are of fruits such as raspberries and cherries as well as chocolate. My first impression of this wine when i tasted it was of chocolate covered cherries. Yum! This wine sits well in the glass and evolves nicely when exposed to air. The finish isn't too long and the wine itself isn't what some people would call complex but for $10, it's an absolutely fantastic wine.
Give it a try and see for yourself why I give this wine an 'A' grade and recommend it without hesitation to anyone who will listen to me :D