Gentle Readers,
At $5.88 (more outside Ca) per bottle you wouldn't expect much but Concha y Toro's Casillero del Diablo Cabernet is quite drinkable. The hint of spice and red cherry are typical of a Chilean cab but there is some black fruit lurking there as well. This wine compares favorably with many in the $10.00-$15.00 range.
Although a brand new wine (nouveau for you wine snobs), this 2004 vintage is bone dry and lacks that sickly sweet back-taste that afflicts many inexpensive cabs.
But it gets better, you get the legend too. In the 19th century, the founder of Concha y Toro, Don Melchor, discovered that his vineyard workers were sampling his greatest wines. To discourage this, Don Melchor spread the rumor that his deepest, darkest cellar was the Casillero del Diablo (Cellar of the Devil). Not wanting to run into the Waking Man himself, the workers stopped nabbing the good stuff.
50 degrees and the gale winds are freshening. Like a pooch in the back end of a pick up truck, my kids are outside with their noses in the wind. Intermittent rain drops blast the windows like birdshot and I'm enjoying a glass from the Devil's Cellar. Frank's gonna like that too because his refund just keeps on getting better.
Look good in stripes? Then I'm your tax guy.
As Ever,
The Cheap Wine Commonsewer
