Sip a bottle of distinguished 1997 Errazuriz shiraz from the Aconcagua Valley in Chile, and not only do you drink a seriously good red, but you also get a lesson in anthropology and geography.
Many of the settlers who arrived in the broad and fertile central valley of Chile in the centuries after the conquest of the 1550s were from Basque or Catalan regions. Maximiano Errazuriz was one, as the name suggests. There are similar unpronounceable names throughout the Chilean wine industry, hinting of the long Basque relation with the farming of grapes in South America.
Today, the head of the firm is Eduardo Chadwick, showing a later wave of migration. Many of the top winemakers in Chile today have English, Scottish, Croatian, Italian or French names.
As for geography, well, the Aconcagua Valley is 100 kilometres north of the capital, and the summers are blazing. Shiraz vines just adore heat, so they do well in the region. Don Errazuriz founded the vineyard in 1870, and the estate is a noble one. History flowers amid the vines.
Remy sells this at $159 (fax: 2576-3315 for a case at the special price of $139 per bottle) and it is a super drink.
Once picked in the long, dry autumn, the grapes are crushed in a winery that is a regional flagship. Aged in oak in deep brick-lined cellars, the wine comes to the market ready to drink, although you can store this for years; it can only get better.