Saturday at the Shop

I'll have notes from last night's Banfi South American tasting up by tomorrow; but I do want to note that we had a great turnout and a lot of good wines. My personal thought was that the more I taste these wines, the more I think of Argentina as place that produces wines that are similar to wines from California that exhibit that lush, fruit-driven style and Chile as a place where the wines mimic French Bordeaux. And the wines are serious wines; since the southern half of South America is relatively dry and isolated, it is rare that pests and diseases pose serious threats to vineyards and winemaking. The result is that no one who makes wines in Argentina or Chile has ever been faced with the incentive to use many chemicals and pesticides in the winemaking process, so it's relatively easy for a winery to make wine that is functionally organic or biodynamic.

It's Saturday night at the shop; Kristen is bartending tonight and the ping-pong table is open to challengers at 7pm. Come on by!