Winemaker Notes
Carmine red with a purple tint. Powerful and complex with intense, forward fruit, the nose opens on black plum and blackberry aromas mingled with notes of spice.
The wine has a very good attack, good substance and balanced concentration and acidity, with very round, silky and fine tannins offering a velvety mouthfeel. The mid-palate reveals intense black fruit and blackberry flavors together with attractive black pepper and mocha notes, building to a long, powerful and complex finish typical of Colchagua Valley Carmenere.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A great introduction to Chile’s signature grape. Deep black-fruit aromas with some spice and just a hint of red bell pepper. The full, velvety body is brimming with ripe tannins. Slightly bitter but fun.
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Decanter
Chilean Carmenère with a French accent from Baron Philippe de Rothschild. The nose is loaded with aromas of blackcurrant leaf, coffee, black fruit and dark chocolate. Harmonious palate: notes of black pepper, roasted coffee and dark chocolate are threaded through the lingering smooth, deep black fruit, balanced by good freshness. This vintage has seen a refinement of the winemaking style, with less new oak (eight months in second-use French barrels), reflected in the well integrated tannins.
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.
Well-regarded for intense and exceptionally high quality red wines, the Colchagua Valley is situated in the southern part of Chile’s Rapel Valley, with many of the best vineyards lying in the foothills of the Coastal Range.
Heavy French investment and cutting-edge technology in both the vineyard and the winery has been a boon to the local viticultural industry, which already laid claim to ancient vines and a textbook Mediterranean climate.
The warm, dry growing season in the Colchagua Valley favors robust reds made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenère, Malbec and Syrah—in fact, some of Chile’s very best are made here. A small amount of good white wine is produced from Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.