De Martino Alto de Piedras Carmenere 2015
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Originally from Bordeaux, Carmene`re has made a new home in Chile. Full-bodied, with dark fruit, evident tannins, beautifully integrated wood, plus a slight (positive) green character. A lovely alternative to Cabernet.
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The top Carmenere is the 2015 Single Vineyard Alto de Piedras, produced with grapes from an organically farmed vineyard that was planted ungrafted in 1992 on one of the stony alluvial terraces of the Maipo River, which suits the variety and helps to avoid green aromas and flavors in its wines. They want to offer a typical Carmenere with spice, tobacco leaves and red fruit notes but without too much alcohol, over-ripeness or excess oak to try to cover the herbal tones. 2015 was a warm and high-yielding year, and the key to success was to control yields to be able to harvest early—and this is only 13.3% alcohol. It matured in 5,000-liter oak foudres for 30 months. It has ripe aromas and flavors, without excess and with a touch of thyme, which gives it a clear Mediterranean twist. There is no 2016 for this wine, as rain during harvest complicated matters, and the wine was declassified. 2015 is very good for Bordeaux varieties. 13,100 bottles and 60 magnums were filled in August 2017.
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Founded in Isla de Maipo (Chile), since 1934 the De Martino family has specialised in producing wines that reflect their origin and the character of each vineyard, based on solid principles of sustainable farming and traditional winemaking techniques. Today, the winery brings together the experience of the third generation of the family - represented by Pietro, Marco and Remo De Martino- with the dynamism and vision of Marco Antonio and Sebastián De Martino, the fourth generation. De Martino labelled and exported Chile’s first Carmenere in 1996 and was a pioneer winery working century-old vineyards in the Itata Valley, incorporating old winemaking techniques that set a precedent in South America.
On De Martino's tours, you can taste wines from Chile’s very diverse regions, try one of the world's best Carmenere wines and see the exciting process of wine creation. Just one hour from Santiago, a bilingual guide will explain the whole process of making our wines in a tour that starts with the work in the vineyards and goes through to bottling and ageing. You will also be able to find out about our innovative winemaking techniques in amphorae and foudres, methods that are unrivalled in Chile’s wine industry. This is the ideal opportunity to discover the best and most varied range produced in Chile.
Dark, full-bodied and herbaceous with a spicy kick, Carménère found great success with its move to Chile in the mid-19th century. However, the variety went a bit undercover until 1994 when many plantings previously thought to be Merlot, were profiled as Carménère. Somm Secret— Carménère is both a progeny and a great-grandchild of the similarly flavored Cabernet Franc.
The Maipo Valley is Chile’s most famous wine region. Set in the country’s Central Valley, it is warm and quite dry, often necessitating the use of irrigation. Alluvial soils predominate but are supplemented with loam and clay.
The climate in Maipo is best-suited for ripe, full-bodied reds like Cabernet Sauvignon (the region’s most widely planted grape), Merlot, Syrah and Carmenère, a Bordeaux variety that has found a successful home in Chile.
White wines are also produced with great prosperity, especially near the cooler coast, include Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.