Welcome to Part 3 of this mini-series of posts on the Wines of Chile blogger tasting held back in October. Earlier posts covered the 3 Sauvignon Blancs and 3 Pinot Noirs. The final post, yet to come, will deal with the 3 Cabernet Sauvignons.
But today, dear reader, we focus on Carmenere. I won’t try to retell the story of Carmenere in Chile. You can Google it. Suffice it to say this originally-Bordelais grape wound up widely-planted in Chile and has become it’s calling card. I was really happy to get to taste these three wines.
Wine #7
Concha y Toro Marques de Casa Concha Carmenere 2010 Cachapoal Valley ($22)
100% Carmenere
Aromas of dusty black fruit and currants lead to a lean, but muscular palate presence. Green pepper and pencil lead dominate the plummy fruit. And plenty of tannins. A fierce little wine. Firm but friendly.
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Wine #8
Carmen Gran Reserva Carmenere 2010 Apalta-Colchagua Valley ($15)
95% Carmenere | 5% Carignan
The nose offers up tobacco and green pepper. On the palate it is plump and fleshy, with plummy fruit and sweet spices outlined by an ashy character. A Rubenesque Carmenere.
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Wine #9
Koyle ‘Royale’ Carmenere 2009 Colchagua Valley ($26)
85% Carmenere | 8% Petit Verdot | 7% Malbec
This one leaps out of the glass with strong mineral/graphite/iron presence and some pleasant green notes. Firm on the palate, featuring chocolate notes along with the dark fruit. Finishes with puckery tannins. In my notebook I wrote: “Big, inky badass” and drew a picture of a giant squid. This wine definitely made the biggest impression on me of all the wines in the tasting, and I was still enamored by it when I tasted back through the wines the next day. I will seek out this bottle again.
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All in all, this was a very nice flight of wines. Along with the Sauvignon Blancs, the Carmenere flight was my favorite of this tasting. Carmenere is easy to forget when you’re browsing the racks at your favorite wine shop. These wines reminded me that they are worth seeking out.
And if you’re ever looking for a wine match for chicken liver, pork and black pepper paté (aren’t we all?), Carmenere will work very nicely.
These carmenere are great matches with my chicken liver, pork and black pepper paté #snobalert #callingfraziercrane #blogchile
— Jim Wilkerson (@vinegeek) October 25, 2012
Cheers!