This story originally appeared in the Napa Valley Register.
Saying that Chilean wine equals value wine is “like sticking fingers in a wound,” explained Rodrigo Soto, president of Veramonte, Ritual, Primus...
This past week, I had the opportunity to try Tunisian wine. Yes, Tunisian wine.
From what I understand, this is the first time that Tunisian wine is available in the U.S., thanks to Kathy Bailey who has started to import them through her company Travis Wine Imports.
I was intrigued when Kathy contacted me a few months ago about putting together a small trade and media lunch with the wines. I was all the more impressed after I tried them and think that it is an interesting story to share.
Tunisia is located on the northern coast of Africa. Wine has been made in Tunisia for more than 2,000 years. In fact, Tunisia is home to the world’s first documented viticulturist, Mago (or Magon), who was an agronomist, viticulturist and writer in Ancient Carthage (200 BC). Mago wrote the first known guide to growing and cultivating vines and making wines.
If you had asked me a week ago about Chilean wine, I would not have had much to say. It is not a region that I had explored and my familiarity with the wines was generally limited to the value wines made with Cabernet Sauvignon and Carmenere. But after spending a week exploring Leyda Valley, Casablanca Valley and Limari Valley, three areas in the coastal region of Chile, I am enamored. Without a doubt the elegant Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs from these regions are the Please The Palate pick of the week.
Chile is a long and skinny country. From north to south, Chile is approximately 2600 miles long. On the west side is the Pacific Ocean and only 110 miles across the country are the Andes, with Argentina on the other side. There are vineyards near the Andes, there are vineyards in the Central Valley (between the Andes and the Coastal Mountain Range) and there is the Coastal Region where vineyards lie between the Coastal Mountain Range and the Pacific Ocean.
