Wine Dinner with South American Wines 2003

We have friends who love to cook. So we announce to them what wines we'll bring, and it's their task to cook food from that region of the world to go with it. For this last dinner, we decided on inexpensive summer wines from Chile and Argentina. Talk about a fun evening!

We started out with some delicious shrimp in a mint, lime juice, and hot pepper appetizer. With this we paired a Dallas Conte Rapel Valley 1999 Chardonnay from Chile. It rang in at $8.99. The wine was on the sweet side, with peachy and cantelope flavors, very smooth and creamy. This was just perfect against the spiciness of the shrimp.

Next, the Don Miguel Gascon 2001 Malbec, at $9.99. This one was from Mendoza, Argentina. We had this with chicken cooked in olive oil with green onion, lemon juice, salt and pepper. The wine was very light in tannins, with smooth flavors of gentle fruit. Malbec used to be popular in Bordeaux, and is the most planted red grape in Argentina.

We moved on to a 2000 Merlot from Dallas Conte, again from Raphel Valley in Chile. This was $8.99. The merlot had a smooth flavor of blackberry and mulberry. We had this with a beef served with Chimichurri Rojo sauce. This was hot! The Merlot went really well with it, helping to mellow out the spice.

We ended the evening sipping a Vina Cantagua 2001 blend of 30% Cabernet Sauvignon and 70% Merlot, from Chile. This was a light, fruity wine with gentle flavors. Great for sipping while hanging out with friends. And it was the cheapest of the bunch at only $5.99.

The next time you're going to have dinner with friends, turn it into a wine tasting dinner! Just choose a region of the world, grab some bottles and enjoy the evening!