Try Something New: Carmenere

If you love big red wines but you are tired of spending over $25 for a decent bottle, look no more! The managers at Private Stock Cigar and Wine are always on the look out for the next big wine. Two years ago it was California and Oregon Pinot Noir ($15-$25). Last year it was Argentine Malbec and Cabernet ($8-$20). This year we have found some Chilean Carmenere ($10-$15) that will rock your socks off.

Carmenere was imported to South America in the 1850s along with other Bordeaux varieties, prior to the Eauropean outbreak of Phylloxera. The largest established vineyards of this variety are in Chilie, although many of these were misidentified as Merlot because the two vines share many similarities. French ampelographer Jean Michel Bourisiquot discovered the truth in 1994.

Now that the newly rediscovered grape is being properly harvested, which is to say, several weeks later than the Merlot grapes, the range of its flavor and versatility is suddenly being appreciated. Once only blended with Cabernet and Merlot, it’s now being bottled alone, with a dark red color and an amazing breadth and range of flavors, from green pepper to blackberry to chocolate, and textures that are entirely distinctive from one vineyard to the next.

Some Chilean Carmenere Wines to try: *PS = Private Stock
Casas del Toqui Carmenere Reserva ($10.99 PS). I am a Wine Snob, yes that right I consider myself a Wine Snob and if you are reading this Blog then you probably are a Wine Snob also. Be proud of your Snobbishness. I really enjoy expensive wines but I enjoy expensive-tasting wines more. Getting back to the Toqui, when we opened this wine and poured it into the glass all of our jaws hit the floor. The dark inky red color of this wine made most of your California Merlots look like water. Here are my tasting notes on this diamond in the rough:

Visual: Inky Brick Red, Heavy Legs
Nose: Big Blackberries, Cherries, Smokey, little Dark Chocolate on the end
Palate: Blackberries, Cherries, slight Black Pepper, Chocolate, with lingering Berries and Chocolate on the 15-20 second long finish

Terra Andina Carmenere Reserve ($12.99 PS)
"Color: Dark and deep red.
Complex with grilled red pepper, raspberry and blackberry fruit,
dried plums mingled with tobacco and mocha. Velvety texture with
soft and voluptuous tannins in a nicely integrated finish."