South American Journal

Confession: I like good cheap wine, er, good wine that happens to be cheap. Los Vascos, from the Colchagua Valley in Chile, is high on my list. It's an affordable, widely available Cabernet that tends to sell around the $10 mark and does justice to grilled meats. (Quick aside: ever notice that wine descriptions always refer to how well the wine goes with meat dishes? Do wine afficionados eat that darned much red meat?) I haven't tried it, but I could easily imagine this wine working with a spicy lentil stew served over rice. Anyway, the bodega (winery) of Vina de Los Vascos is actually owned by the Lafite branch of the Rothschild clan. Yes, those Rothschilds -- the ones who pretty much invented banking and went on to finance centuries of war, etc. etc. Well, maybe they've turned a new leaf. I say let's give them one more chance.