Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Decanter
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.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
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.
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.