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So before I delve into who this awesome guy is, let me first tell you that we've actually talked about one of his other wines before. If you all remember a few posts ago I talked about a wine called Pi, (you can read it here if not) that was his baby as well! So we already have a good taste in our mouths for this guy! I'm going to talk briefly about another one of my favorites from him called Siendra, but first I want to give you a little backstory on this guy, because, like you've heard me say before, wine is liquid story telling, and sometimes it's nice to get a little history on the story teller.
So Who Is This Guy?
Christophe Chapillon was born and raised in Tours, which sits in the Loire Valley in Central France. Anyone who has even scratched the surface of french wine will recognize this name as a prime place for wine. So he's essentially got it in his blood from the get go. When Christophe was 16 years old he moved to the region of Spain called Aragon, where he still lives. In 2006 he started making the world a little better by bringing us delicious wines. They are primarily classic Spanish wines, with a very French influence, which is really cool to see, and especially to drink! For a list of his wines you can check him out here, and start to go hunt them down! They tend to be relatively inexpensive, but drink like a much more pricey bottle! Ok, so there's your ten thousand foot view: a Frenchman, living in Spain, making delicious wines for the world to guzzle.
Now On To The Wine!
I started my research (after having had many bottles over the past two or so years of course) by trying to do some research on what the name Siendra meant, and here's the first thing that popped up, "A very spiritual person who often relies on intuition for decision making...Your mind is rich and deep...You sometimes need seclusion to gain clarity...This however does not make you a person that is hard to get along with. On the contrary you have many talents and can always tell what others are feeling.." (www.meaningslike.com) Now I know what you're thinking, "Who the heck are you quoting?" and "that is talking about a person not a wine, " blah, blah, blah...I know, I get it and agree. However, I'm going to use it because it actually has a lot of parallels with how I view this wine. Plus, you never know, maybe Chapillon uses that website for all this wines...Though I highly doubt it.
But c'mon, look at that label alone. If that doesn't scream rich and deep, and somewhat brooding and aloof, then I don't know what does. And when it comes to drinking this wine it does not disappoint. There's something for everyone in this bottle. Siendra (See-En-Drah) is a blend of several grapes, most of which we've either covered before, or should be pretty familiar to you. It's primarily Garnacha (Gar-Nah-Cha) (which is the same as Grenache) with a little bit of Cab, Merlot, and Syrah in there as well! Ok, so we know it's dark and brooding, and has a few different grapes in it, but so what? What does that mean when the rubber hits the road, or the wine hits the glass, or whatever you wanna say.
Now, I don't want to pigeon hole you into anything here because this wine is always good, any time of the year (and I drink it as such), but to me, it screams fall. Let me liken it to something we can all relate to: Let's take the movie Die Hard, the first one. Everyone knows it's a Christmas movie, probably the best Christmas movie in fact. (If you don't believe me, just ask Entertainment Weekly ) Anyways, that movie is great anytime of the year, but it screams Christmas! In the same way, Siendra can be enjoyed year round, but it is just begging to be drank out of a mug, while huddled around a bonfire. The temperature isn't quite cold, but you might be shivering a little if you didn't have a hoodie, and some wine to warm you up. There's the smell of smoke in the air, the stars are bright above you, and the leaves crunch in such a satisfying way as you walk back to the fire after refilling your mug. Maybe there are others there who aren't drinking wine, but you're ok with it because you smell the beautiful aromas of apples, cinnamon, and clove coming from the cider in their mugs. This. This is Siendra. It's all of fall in a sip.
Tilt your mug towards the flickering firelight and you'll see the rich black cherry color faintly glimmering back at you. Raise it to your lips and you'll experience a thousand sensations of dark cherry, black current, subtle hints of dark chocolate and maybe even some deep espresso notes, in addition to the lingering spice that the Garnacha and Syrah bring to the table. The smoldering logs on the fire in front of you will draw you deeper into the oak that this wine is aged in, giving it a full body, and a slightly woody finish that is highlighted with smoke and spices peeking through. Now, I don't know if Chapillon had camp fires, Die Hard, or autumnal foliage in mind when he was crafting this masterpiece, but isn't that the beauty of art, that it can evoke a different urge, or feeling in everyone?
I'm going to wrap this up with a quote from author Ray Bradbury from 1996. Ray says, "The good writers touch life often, the mediocre ones run a quick hand over her, the bad ones rape her and leave her to the flies." I think it's safe to say that if we translate this from writing to the art of winemaking, it's clear that Christophe Chapillon is touching life again and again in a beautiful way, a way we can all experience, enjoy, and appreciate. Yippe Ki Yay mother...I mean...Drink On!
