Chile produces great red wines and this Carmenere is a great example. Its bold, dry withĺ great length and softness that gives a feeling of exceptional quality, but at £15 a bottle it’s amazing value. There is tons of flavour with black fruits, plums, cherry and hits of tobacco, oak, vanilla, pepper and hints of coffee and mint.
This Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenere blend from Indomita in the Maipo Valley in Chile is a good example of what Chile can produce. Wine Snobs look away.
Its a deep purple colour with aromas of red and black fruits, redcurrant, blackcurrant, plum, cherries and leather. There are additional flavours of spice, vanilla and oaky notes. Its a dry, bold wine that has tannins but no enough to strip your mouth.
We had this with a big juicy steak and it went very well, cutting through the fat and giving that warm fuzzy feel, granted many wines give that warm fuzzy feel but steak is the perfect partner for this wine.
At £14 a bottle its about the right price, get it in a sale and it could be great value.
Indomita, Duette, Premium Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenere, 2017, Chile
Can you get bad Carmenere? Probably but I’ve yet to taste it. There are better Carmenere’s out there for sure but this is a good one. Lots to smell and taste, aromas mainly of black fruits, cherry, plum with oak, vanilla, leather, tobacco and pepper. Some comes through on the taste but you also get hints of raspberry and strawberries.
It could be a bit more smoother, refined. If I have it with food I would probably be singing it’s praises, on its own I just liked it.
Cono Sur, ‘La Rinconada’ Single Vineyard Block 28, Carmenere, Chile
35% Carmenère, 34% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Carignan is the makeup of this Chilian blend. The vineyard has gone organic in the last few years and ages the wine for between 12 and 18 months in french oak. This is a dry red with grippy tannins that really stay around. Its a rich red with herbaceous, blackberry, blackcurrant, spice and coffee notes and flavours and a slate finish undertone. Its a strong blend that will get better with age, softening and mellowing. I had this with steak which was a great combination. but enjoyed it on it’s own.
Decanter gave this a Silver medal, that’s about right. It pretty good, although at £25 a bottle its a little overpriced but not excessively so.
Bouchon – Mingre 2015 red blend from Chile
Each year Framingham in Suffolk host a sausage festival. In a good year about 10,000 people are expected to be there. This year the co-op hosted a VIP wine tasting with host Alison from www.wineathome.co.uk and Jane and Peter from Toppesfield Vineyard. There were 6 wines, a Cava, a prosecco, an English white a rose, an Australia Cab Sav and a Chilian Carmenere.
All the wines were good examples. The Cava was light with subtle tropical fruit flavours and breast notes. The prosecco was, well prosecco. I preferred to drink the Cava as it had more depth and flavours. The Toppesfield English Bacchus was truly excellent, it gets more flavours and refined each month I try it. The Shawsgate rose was pretty good, decent red fruit aromas and not as over powering on the taste buds as the colour might suggest. I’m a big Provence rose fan and the darker roses are usually my glass of wine. The 2 reds were a surprise. Carmenere was fruity, a bit of spice and vanilla thrown in, very happy I was. The Cab Sav was a JC moment, possibly the best was served last and one of the best reds I’ve tasted in a long time. Great black and red fruit aromas and flavours, firm but not over powering tannins, long finish and at £9 a bottle very reasonable.
Alison from www.wineathome.co.uk talking about sparkling wine
Co-op wines tried at the Framingham Sausage Festival