Winemaker Notes
Pairs well with any type meat, especially lamb because the tannins cut through the fattiness without hiding the flavors of the food. Also a good match with strong cheeses.
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
Marcelo García makes this wine from a vineyard in Melozal, Cauquenes, where TerraNoble works with a grower farming 60-to-100-year-old vines. García ages it in old barriques to mellow the tannins without creating any barrier to the pure expression of Maule’s great, often overlooked Secano Interior. Those carignan tannins are black against the red juice, the flavors made more vivid by blood-orange acidity. You might find pomegranate or currant tones to the fruit, which feels spicy and cool at once. A lovely Cauquenes red, and a steal at the price.
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James Suckling
A powerful and highly structured carignan with dark cherries and plenty of mineral power, plus crisp acidity. Drink or hold.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2017 TerraNoble Gran Reserva Carignan is lively and bright on the palate. TASTING NOTES: This wine offers aromas and flavors of vibrant red raspberries. Serve it with BBQ baby back ribs. (Tasted: October 15, 2021, San Francisco, CA)
Responsible for some of the most stunning old vine red wine on the planet, Carignan has an amazing capacity to survive dry, arid climates and still produce lovely, mouthwatering wine. In Spain it goes by the name of Mazuelo or Cariñena and while it may have originated there in the province of Aragón, its popularity lies elsewhere, particularly in Languedoc-Roussillon. Somm Secret—Historically Carignan did not enjoy the respect that it does today. In the mid 20th century, Carignan covered nearly 140,000 ha in Algeria, where it was made into low quality bulk and blending wine to supply mass-market demand.
Maule is the Central Valley’s most southern and coolest zone, reaching a southern latitude of 35°S, yet it is still warmer and drier than Bío-Bío to its south. The Maule Valley enjoys success with a unique set of grapes.
It lays claim to the local variety, Pais (synonymous with Tinta Pais, which is actually Tempranillo), which has dominated much of the region’s area under vine until the recent past. Now many growers, not confined by the tradition and regulations of the Old World, also successfully grow Cabernet Sauvignon.
While Maule’s total area under vine remains relatively static, its old Carignan vineyards are undergoing a great revival. The VIGNO (Vignadores del Carignan Vintners) group, an association in charge of promoting this long-forgotten variety, is getting fantastic results from the old vines in its dry-farmed coastal zones.
The Maule includes the subregions of Talca, San Clemente, San Javier, Parral, Linares and Cauquenes.