Winemaker Notes
A red wine with an intense, violet-ruby color. The bouquet is fruity with strong plum, cherry, and mulberry notes. The aroma also has a vegetable edge of ripe red pepper, and the flavor is complex, with jams, spinach, and chocolate. Barrel aging lends this wine pleasant smoky and toast notes, bringing out its spices; texture is soft, with rounded tannins and medium body.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Ample ripeness of red plums and mulberries with a leafy edge that leads to a firm palate that has central tannins, carrying wings of red-berry flavor.
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.