Casillero del Diablo

It is crazy to believe that we are already in 2012 and almost halfway through the month of January. The holiday season was a whirlwind of family events, visiting friends, cooking and wine drinking. This holiday was extra special for me, as it seemed that a lot of out of town visitors came to Toronto. I had one from England, one from New York and two from Ireland ... very lucky indeed!! All were super generous, and usually came with a bottle of wine in hand.

 One that I had a glass of last night was the Casillero del Diablo Malbec from Chile. Now Malbec is one of those amazing grapes. Mostly, the best of them (in my opinion) come from South America, but I am of the impression that any Malbec is a good choice. The other wonderful part of this grape is that the price point is generally quite reasonable. Like any wine, you can always go up in price for better quality, but when you stay around the $10.50 - $15.00 you are still getting an excellent and easy to drink wine. This does not ring true for all grape varietals or regions (France, Italy, etc.) but for more New World wines it is, for the most part true. The Casillero del Diablo can be found at the LCBO and retails for a price of $11.95 ... fantastic! It is very easy to drink, perfect on its own or with grilled veggies, stews and poultry (all perfect winter meals). On the nose there are aromas of dark fruit and some spicy pepper and smoke. The palette matches the nose quite well and the wine itself has smooth tannins and a medium finish.

All in all, this is a great wine and an amazing value at that!

Happy 2012, may it be filled with lots of laughter, adventure and great wine!

HM