@ClosdesFous (Grillos Cantores) Cabernet Sauvignon 2011 (Chile) 14%

I tasted the Clos de Fous, Cabernet Sauvignon the other day during a girl’s night. My friend explained to me that the bottle had been gifted to her. Jumping on the occasion to try this wine, I read the tasting notes behind the bottle.

I was surprised to read that this type of wine hadn’t been aged in a wood based barrel. Which brought about the question, but how does one age wine if it’s not in a barrel.

No mystery goes unsolved with Google; we quickly sought out an answer. We weren’t disappointed.
Aging wine in cement tanks has been a process that goes back as far as Ancient Rome. A lot of modern wine makers have stopped making their wines in barrels, opting for these cement vats.

This vineyard ages their wine in cement containers. This technique obliterates any oaky flavours – which to tell you the truth completely blew my mind. How can a wine not have any woody taste/tones? (You can ask my friend, this was a topic that I had trouble distancing myself from – even after we discovered the aging process and vineyards opt for it.)

In essence this technique is very organic. Some say it allows the wine a more pure and porous aging process, allowing it to have a more mineral base.
On that note…

Clos des Fous (Grillos Cantores) Cabernet Sauvignon 2011 (Chile) 14%
SAQ $20.25

The Clos de fous, Cabernet Sauvignon has a very lovely colour, an almost purple-y ruby.
Right off the bat your nose will know there’s something completely different. I’m not going to lie, I could distinctly decipher the scent of an old cellar or crawl space; a basement; or even an old house came to mind. I really had to push through beyond that smell. (This is the first time I had tried a wine that had been aged this way. I’m sure the more I try, the less overwhelming the smell will be.)

If you get past the strong first smell, your taste buds will not be disappointed. It’s odd not tasting the smoky and woody scents you’re used to with reds. I think the grape is nearly at its purest. There’s something there that you wouldn’t necessarily be able to taste normally. It’s almost as if you can taste the earth, the vine and the climate the grape was grown in. It was odd to say.

It’s a distinctive colour, smell and taste. If you’re willing to try something new, I definitely
recommend this bottle.

Cheers!