While at drinks last night with a couple of friends at a swanky San Francisco bar, I drank a glass of wine that was utterly horrible.  Although it certainly didn’t ruin my evening — I had a great time catching up with my buddies — the purchase of this glass at $9 represented to me a waste of more than half the money I needed to buy another bottle of the fabulous Cab referenced above.  It’s wines like these, a steal at $17, that could make me swear off rolling the dice on 9 dollar mystery-glasses-of-wine for good.

On the nose, it’s marked by dark red fruits like dark cherry, blackberry and currant, and once in the mouth, these flavors are accompanied by charred wood and a hint of chocolate from the oak aging.  Also, the tannins in this wine are firm without being overbearing — you’ll recognize them from the drying sensation you’ll feel around your gums and in the back of your throat — which ought to result in this wine’s pairing well with cheese or other foods rich in fat and proteins.

This is the first bottle of wine we’ve reviewed from Chile, but for the money, it had us thinking “yo quiero mas!”