Maipo Valley, Chile – $10
There’s nothing like the thrill of discovery. Whether you are machete-chopping through uncharted jungle or finding the last pair of perfect boots (on sale! in your size!!) it’s the feeling that keeps you coming back for more and finding wine treasures will give you that same rush!
If ever there was ever a winery just waiting to be discovered, Porta Winery is it. Like David Hasselhoff is in Germany, Porta is HUGE in Japan. Porta is a behemoth in Asia’s wine markets and incredibly successful in the UK but has thus far failed to garner much attention here in the States. Their relative obscurity means treasure-seeking wine buyers like you can grab a bottle from one of Chile’s coolest wineries for a Hamilton.
Our current favorite is their 2008 Porta Reserva Carmenére. An old French grape once thought lost, Carmenére is the vehicle driving Chilean wine into the mainstream since its rediscovery there in the early 90s. Expect to find lots of tart, purple-hued fruit, along with the notes of tobacco and cocoa that have made Carmenére famous.
Drink liberally with cheeseburgers, pizza, and anything involving bacon.
