Friday, July 21, 2000 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER A rgentina riva lin g Chile as producer o f fine wines Chile may be well advised to keep a close eye on their neighboring wine industry, that of Argentina. Some years ago, when I visited the region, Argentina was well behind Chile, not only in quality, but the Argentinean wines were also much Wine more expensive at that time. Since then, much has changed. The Chilean wines have become quite expensive and the Argentinean wines are much more drinkable. Argentina never lacked in quality, it was just that their wines were so harsh and at times even offensive when young, whereas those from Chile were smooth and very drinkable, even at a young age. In my opinion, many of the current Chilean wines are not of the same quality as in the past, yet those of us, and I include myself, who became fond of those wines, undoubt edly noticed that price increas es seldom kept pace with the quality. Wines that were at one time outstanding, are now very commercial. A perfect example to the increasing quality of A L E C EBERSM ECH ER Argentinean wines is one I recently tasted is the 1999 Etchart RIO DE PLATA MERLOT, produced by Bodega Etchart in Mendoza. This Merlot, in spite of its youth, is ready to drink now, although it surely could be aged for a few more years. Cellar Intense in fruit, both in aroma and on the palate, this is a wine that reminds me very much of the good Chilean wines of about fifteen to twenty years ago, and that also includes the price. The Merlot would be a good wine to accompany most meat dishes as well as pastas and some cheeses. The RIO DE PLATA MERLOT is a general listing under CSPC #515890 for about $8.45. There are about a dozen other red wines from Argentina under general list ings, most of them Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, a few Malbec and even a Syrah for those who enjoy spicy foods. If you prefer a white wine, look at the CUVEE TRAPICHE SAUVIGNON BLANCSEMILLON, CSPC #359083 for $6.75 or the NORTON SAUVIGNON BLANC, CSPC #533331 for about $9.95. As a whole, I still like the better Chilean wines, but I am also very pleas- antly surprised by the quality and value offered by the newer style wines from Argentina. If I were a producer in Chile, I think that I would look somewhat nervously over my shoulder from time to time. E x e c u t i v e d r i v e n d e m o v e h i c l e s a r e p r i c e d to c l e a r - o u t . C o m e in e a r l y , w h i l e t h e y ' r e s t i l l a v a i l a b l e . 00 Dodge Quad Cab 4X4 pw., pi., CD, air, box liner. 2000 Jeep Air, automatic, pw., pw., 10 disc CD, 6 cyl., 26F, Was $43,935 Now $ 32,954 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee Automatic, air, pw., pi., tilt, cruise. Was $26,430 * Plus licence, insurance, registration & taxes. O A C Now $ 21,603 Air, automatic, pw., pi., tilt, cruise, 26J, Was $34,775 Now $ 28,074 1O f K W n n n 1 o u i i i v s u i t W y e c r o f t R d ,, O a k v ille F IV E S T A R ( b e t w e e n K err & D o r v a l) f!!r fSSf tSr lw r iSJr w w w .lo c k w c x x d c h ry s le r.c o m