I am hearing more about the wines of Chile at the moment. Are they producing more wine?

From almost nowhere, Chile has become the rising star of the wine world. As some other New World wine producers struggle to maintain their sales momentum, Chile has enjoyed significant growth over the last year.

This success hasn’t come as such a surprise to some wine trade insiders. Chile has been promising to become the darling of the middle order, fairly keen, interested UK wine drinker for some time.

Since the early nineties, Chile has been sending us plenty of easy to drink, rounded white and red wines made from internationally renowned grape varieties such as Chardonnay and Cabernet. The first Cabernets and Merlots were smooth and easy to drink but what made them interesting is the best examples had a delicious core of concentrated fruit on the mid palate.

The first wave of wines originated mainly from the Central Valley area and from the region surrounding the capital Santiago. Produced with abundant sunshine and plenty of Mountain melt water through irrigation, these wines were reliable and easily accessible, fully ripe and fruit laden if slightly similar across the board.

Since their early success, the winemakers of Chile have been working hard on developing their wines. New cooler climate vineyards have been established and specific sub regions that suit particular varieties are being discovered all the time.

The success that was built on solid, reliable, international grape varieties in a climate that made wine making easy is now moving up the quality ladder. Widely popular varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Chardonnay produced dependable if sometimes one dimensional wines.

The Chileans are now discovering that certain varieties planted in more challenging cooler sites, usually nearer the coast produce wine of distinctive character and finesse. Specific soils, suitable to the grape variety, are also having an influence on the wines.

The UK vies with the USA as the key export market for Chile and so we have the benefit of tasting some of the wines emerging from such innovations.

Our favourite this week was Errazzuriz Estate Unoaked Chardonnay 2008 £8.99 Thresher Wine Rack with its sweet ripe melony fruit with good acidity and pithy, zesty tannin dryness. Clean, balanced and fresh.

Sainsbury’s Taste the difference Chilean Sauvignon Blanc, 2007 £6.99 has a zesty, lime juicy and gooseberry nose with a lively fruity balance of apple and gooseberry flavours on the palate.

The Wine Society Chilean Sauvignon Blanc £8.95 has a crisp grassy green apple nose pithy edge fruity zesty green apples and lime pith wine with good weight and full flavour.

Errazzuriz Estate Chardonnay 2008 £7.99, Sainsbury’s, Majestic, Oddbins is a fresh, juicy pineapple edged white with an inviting, clean, fresh juicy taste.

Maycas del Limari Syrah Rose 2007 £8.99 Majestic. Fragrant Raspberry fruit, full, weighty red berry fruit flavour.

Our favourite red was Sainsbury’s Taste the difference Chilean Merlot £5.99 vibrant chocolate edge to the ripe plum nose. Balance of ripe fruits on the palate with a supple, lengthy blackcurrant undercurrent.

We also liked the Palo Alto Reserva 2007 £7.99 Asda, Sainsbury’s Somerfield Tesco with its lovely ripe plum and blackcurrant jam nose with a mature, smoky edge. It is soft and easy on the palate with a pleasing warm finish.

Waitrose have an excellent value Virtue Merlot/Cabernet £3.99 which has a dusky, mint edged plum and blackcurrant nose and a full palate of soft, ripe, warm plum fruit.

Sainsbury's Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon £2.99 Dark, jammy plum and blackcurrant nose and rounded dark blackcurrant palate that would suit grilled meat.

Caliterra Estate grown Merlot 2008 Green edged plum jam fruit with a sweet jammy edge. On the palate there is a smoky edge to the lean blackcurrant and plum fruit.