Winemaker Notes
Lush notes of blackberry and spice are abundant in the nose and follow through to the fruity, spicy palate. The tannins are elegant and refined. This is a powerful wine with a beautiful personality whose rich flavors truly capture the essence of the vineyard.
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
From ten-year-old vines planted in the granitic soils of the San Francisco Vineyard, this carmenère balances its scents of herbs and spices with an extra degree of acidity that makes it so drinkable, and perfect for lamb chops. The tight, pleasantly rustic tannins will do the rest. Chill it down to enhance the red fruit flavors that shine in the background.
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James Suckling
Sweet tea, spice and blackberry aromas follow through to full body, round tannins and a juicy finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
A magenta color and ripe grapy aromas of black fruits accented by spice and olive open this plump wide-bodied Carmenere. Spicy black cherry and blackberry flavors are stout and rock solid on an unwaverwing finish. Drink through 2020.
Editors' Choice -
Tasting Panel
Dark, ripe and velvety with soft herbs, plum and smooth texture; long toasty and charming.
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.
Dramatic geographic and climatic changes from west to east make Chile an exciting frontier for wines of all styles. Chile’s entire western border is Pacific coastline, its center is composed of warm valleys and on its eastern border, are the soaring Andes Mountains.
Chile’s central valleys, sheltered by the costal ranges, and in some parts climbing the eastern slopes of the Andes, remain relatively warm and dry. The conditions are ideal for producing concentrated, full-bodied, aromatic reds rich in black and red fruits. The eponymous Aconcagua Valley—hot and dry—is home to intense red wines made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Merlot.
The Maipo, Rapel, Curicó and Maule Valleys specialize in Cabernet and Bordeaux Blends as well as Carmenère, Chile’s unofficial signature grape.
Chilly breezes from the Antarctic Humboldt Current allow the coastal regions of Casablanca Valley and San Antonio Valley to focus on the cool climate loving varieties, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.
Chile’s Coquimbo region in the far north, containing the Elqui and Limari Valleys, historically focused solely on Pisco production. But here the minimal rainfall, intense sunlight and chilly ocean breezes allow success with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The up-and-coming southern regions of Bio Bio and Itata in the south make excellent Riesling, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
Spanish settlers, Juan Jufre and Diego Garcia de Cáceres, most likely brought Vitis vinifera (Europe’s wine producing vine species) to the Central Valley of Chile sometime in the 1550s. One fun fact about Chile is that its natural geographical borders have allowed it to avoid phylloxera and as a result, vines are often planted on their own rootstock rather than grafted.