Hi Folks,

I introduced myself a few days ago. I am new here an am posting my
first alt.food.wine wine review today.

We publish one wine review each day. I will start posting past
reviews soon, but wanted to show you what our reviews looked like with
the wine review below. If you have any feedback, please let me
know.

Is it appropriate to post a link to the original review? Should I
only post the Tasting Profile portion of the review?

Thanks!

- Agent Red


Mission Codename: Hardly Monochromatic

Operative: Agent Red

Objective: Return to Operative favorite, Chilean producer Pengwine,
and retrieve their best and most popular wine for our Operatives

Mission Status: Accomplished!

Current Winery: Pengwine

Wine Subject: 2005 Royal Cabernet Sauvignon

Winemaker: Chris Millikan and Max Eyzaguirre

Backgrounder: Operatives who have been with us this last year will
recognize today’s target. Pengwine Winery of Maipo Valley in Chile was
a big hit when we first featured them here. Central Command has been
keeping close tabs on Pengwine and after a careful extended
surveillance, sent Agent Red to retrieve today’s unique and oh, so
delicious, Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon. Read Agent Reds tasting notes
and corresponding Mission Report, below.
Wine Spies Tasting Profile:

Look – Black cherry juice and garnet in color, with perfect clarity
through its concentrated darker center. On swirling the surface of the
wine appears bouncy and it takes some time to fully settle, leaving
behind fat and skinny legs that move slowly down the glass

Smell – The aromas of this wine leap out of this glass, even on first
pouring. Swirl the wine and bigger aromas waft out, hitting you on the
nose before your nose is anywhere near the glass. Some would call this
a profound nose, but I call it big and bold but not cloying. Now,
about the flavors: Big aromatic of fresh flowers, giant currant,
cherry, roasted blackberry, ancient suede and parchment, tobacco and a
slight vegital quality that I can’t quite identify

Feel – Initially cool and wet, then mouth-coating and a little grippy
as medium tannins appear and grab the middle and sides of the roof of
the mouth

Taste – Big red currant, sweet cranberry, raisin and blackberry with a
touch of bergamot (found in Earl Grey tea) and hints of cocoa powder,
tomato vine and flinty earth

Finish – Delicious, big, long and fruity with a medium dryness and
flavors that go from slightly tart to sweet, then tapering off as your
watering mouth begs for another sip

Conclusion – This is a singular wine of remarkable distinction! This
rich and chewy wine has layers of gigantic flavors and aromas but,
oddly, I did not feel bowled over by it. We are so pleased to see
Pengwine continuing to evolve as a winery, producing better and better
wines with each new vintage. Chris has been a great friend to The Wine
Spies and we are proud of his success. He and Max are making great
wines that are original in their style and grand in their appeal.
While some may shy away from Chilean wines, this is one to rush to.
This wine is big, yes, but it also has balance and restraint. A big
thanks to Chris, for letting us be the first retailer in America to
have this superb wine!

Agent Sparkle adds: ”Whatever is going on in this wine, its thoroughly
drinkable – even on its own. I usually prefer to drink wines with
food, but found myself sipping away at this wine all on its own.”

Mission Report:

US/Chilean Pengwine Wines was conducting a winetasting at the bottom
of the world, and I tagged along. It turned out to be an adventure.

Posing as a wine writer for a prestigious wine magazine, I was able to
secure my cargo plane seat on this first-ever Antarctic wine event.

As I sat in the plane, I watched out the window as the airport workers
clumsily loaded luggage and wine crates onto the planes loading ramp.
After I saw my own luggage spill off the cart and onto the tarmac, I
had visions of the wine crates suffering the same fate. Shortly
thereafter, they did. Spilled wine made dark circles on the black
pavement.

I dashed out of the plane with the winemaker and ran to save the wine.
Many of the bottles were broken, but we managed to repack the
remaining wine and load it safely onto the plane. After the winemaker
conducted a few harried-sounding calls, he decided that he had enough
wine for the expedition and that the trip was still on.

Two bumpy flights and a refueling stop later, we were out over some of
the clearest water I had ever seen. The day was crystal clear and I
could feel the excitement of the expedition members mounting.

The landing was flawless and the wine survived the trip intact.

We were greeted by airfield personnel (a single person) who
accompanied us on our quest to find the natives. With wine bottles
secured inside of parkas, we simply picked a direction and started
walking. A short while later, a few dozen natives in sight, we
stopped, opened bottles, poured and raised our glasses in a salute –
to the penguins… Those on the glacier and those on the labels!

To learn more about this expedition, book a National Geographic cruise
through the Antarctic – where Pengwine is an official selection aboard
the ship.
Wine Spies Spy Photo:

The bottom of the world, where this winetasting actually, honestly,
truly, really did take place, can be seen in this satellite photo:
http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=-76.03732...9%2Cantarctica