Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Gato Negro Merlot


When friends deicide to catch up over a lazy evening, what is better than to have a bottle of nice wine to make the evening more appealing?

Couple of my friend decided to have a mid week break as the Wednesday was a holiday. Now, it have almost become norm among my friends to let me choose the wine and we paid a late visit to Madhuloka, our favorite liquor boutique on Tuesday evening.

After some hunting around, I decided to try 2006 vintage Gato Negro Merlot, a medium bodied wine from Chile.

Gato Negro is one of the oldest brands from Chili, produced at the San Pedro region. Chili does produce some exceptionally good wines, so I had no qualms picking it up from the aisle.

Shyam did the honors with the bottle (we did manage to misplace the wine opener this time, and luckily, I had my Swiss army knife and he used the cork screw of the knife to uncork the wine :P ) and I must tell you, the wine proved very good value for what we paid.

The wine is medium bodies, with a well rounded taste. The wine have a fruit forward taste, and is predominantly pleasant jammy in taste. I believe the grapes grown in Chili is less acidic, owing to the sunny days, and it sure helps the Merlot to retain a smooth, velvet like experience. The wine went well with thandoori chicken and cheese, but however, the channa masala spiced up with pepper was not exactly a good match. 

At 545 INR a bottle, the wine is not at all expensive, and I found it better than some pricier wines. The wine goes well with or without food, and is rich in flavor, but not overpowering. I won’t place it among the best out there, but it is one among the best entry level wine out there. If you fancy a easy on pocket, easy on palate merlot to make your evenings merry, this may be your ticket.

 Wine, friends, poetry and a cool night sky, what a combination.
(I miss you Reggy Mina, and you are remembered fondly)

12 comments:

Unknown said...

Ah another wine fan here as well...

Personally I prefer the Red port wine.. to the Whites and Red...

the only thing i can remember about wines are their classifications... damn confusing!

Apprently Golconda is a really good port thr!

Anonymous said...

AHHH HA!!

actually i had been wondering why there haven't been any 'wine' posts lately :)

this post is cool...but i wont try it.. reading is more than enuf :D

Cess said...

if i m going to India this year, I ll try to bring u some nice French wine from where i m from :)

Sameera Ansari said...

Good you had a nice time!

Preeti said...

Keep some for me ok anooo???

gypsy said...

wineeeeeee...

frnds

n memories...

wow...

I ache for such times... sigh

Juby George said...

wine..... endinanu ee kuppi okke vachu alukale wine ennu thanne vangan tempt cheyyikkunnathu....

Gazal said...

is it a dry wine?

you sound like a pro...err i mean you are a pro.

Scribblers Inc said...

you are havin a helluva time aint you?say you not!!

Scribblers Inc.

Tys on Ice said...

damn! wht did u do , go and do a course on that stuff?...me, i just drink the damn thing..wudnt know the difference from toddy and a vintage if u ask me...

man, u r way too classy... :)

Anonymous said...

yeah...agree with sameera...good u had a nice time...

i think its my 2nd time here, found u through winnie's award post...!! loved ur writing style a lot... anoop right?

am blogrolling u...hope u dont mind...
do visit mine too sometime if u can...not as good a writer as u tho...!! :)

Sangfroid said...

Hey, where in B'lore is this Madhuloka ... looks damn elaborate :-)
Although departmental stores offer a decent choice, this is worth checking out, I feel!

Btw, have you given Kingfisher wines a try? Good stuff :-)