Dona Dominga is one of the biggest brands to come out of Chile. They are part of the Casa Silva group who have been in Chile since 1800′s. Dona Dominga is their entry level wine category but it tastes like anything but entry level.
One thing that I appreciate about the wines of Chile is the value for money aspect of their products. I think the wines are excellent value, the care that goes into making the wines is readily evident. For example, I tried the Dona Dominga Single Vineyard El Rebano 2010 shiraz the other day and it was a fantastic wine.
We are talking about a single-vineyard wine. What does that mean exactly, you may be asking. It means that all the grapes come from one particular vineyard. They have not been trucked in from a nearby vineyard or bought from another company. It means that Dona Dominga knows exactly how these grapes were grown, what sort of treatments, if any, they received, and it also allows them to pick the grapes when they think it’s time. They have absolute control over the quality of the grapes. This may not seem like such a big deal but often big companies will source grapes from others and they may not know exactly what has or has not been done to the grapes during the growing season.
Despite all that care and attention, the wines are still very reasonably priced. You would expect a single-vineyard wine to be quite expensive but Dona Dominga has managed to produce a great wine at a good price.
The 2010 Shiraz is full and elegant with a lively palate, succulent fruit, mostly cherries and a hint of blackberry and a note of spice and tobacco. It goes down very smoothly and is great for grilled meats or even a hearty steak. As I said before, one of the best things about this wine is its affordability – priced at around £7.50 from the major supermarkets, it’s a great deal and punches far above its price point.
I’d certainly recommend the Dona Dominga Shiraz and now that Autumn is here, it’s a perfect wine for those slightly chilly nights. Dona Dominga is available from WinesDirect.
