Everything we want in life, as consumers, we want it to be Worth Every Penny and wine is no different. It’s our rating system, it’s our mantra and I know undoubtedly, it’s your mantra as well – especially in a softened economy. We as consumers want to get the best bang for our buck as possible.

Last night was the first time I got to participate in a nice wine-tasting event with the Wines Of Chile group – live over the Internet – and this was all about Carmenere. Some folks haven’t heard of this almost-lost Bordeaux grape, however, it is starting to make a nice come-back and that’s something I’m really excited about.

As malbec has really helped put Argentina on the wine-map, so the country of Chile is hoping to do with Carmenere and if last night’s tasting is a sign of things to come then I’m very hopeful.

One of the more interesting things about this narrow-strip of land called Chile is the vastly diverse regions it has – from the desert-like, arid conditions of the north to the cooler slopes of the Andes mountains to the west and Antarctic-influenced weather patters to the far south. It’s got about as a diverse terrior as any winemaker could hope for.

Out of the nine bottles I tasted through, there were a few that really stood out from the pack and deliver exceptional value. The wines in this tasting were:

• 2007 Santa Carolina Reserva Carmenere
• 2007 Armador Carmenere
• 2007 Ventisquero Grey Carmenere
• 2007 Terra Andina Altos Carmenere – Carignan blend
• 2007 Viu Manent Carmenere
• 2008 Vina LaRosa Barrel Reserve Carmenere
• 2004 Carmen Wine Maker’s Reserve Red Wine
• 2007 Cono Sur Vision Carmenere

The ones that stood out the most to me were:

2007 Terra Andina Altos  - Price $20 – W.E.P. Rating: 120%

Nose: Meaty, fruity venison on the nose along with black and white pepper petrol, blueberries, black berries, plums and figs.

Taste: Excellent and balanced fruit attack with cascading notes of figs, plums, dark cherries, leather, tobacco, leather, vanilla and some chocolate. Good finish that brings on some very good cedar notes and lingers for hours and goes down the hatch very nicely.

2007 Cono Sur – Price $15 – W.E.P. Rating: 100%

Nose: Blackberries, blueberries, caramel, black pepper for days.

Taste: Black pepper for days along with the black-fruits I love – plums and blackberries along with black cherries. Decent finish with good acids – would be a no-brainer with jerk-chicken, cajun foods or a pepper-crusted steak.

2008 Vina La Rose La Capitana Carmenere – Price: $15 – W.E.P. Rating: 110%

Nose: Pencil lead, blueberries, blackberries, white pepper with a little eucalyptus action as well.

Taste: Definitely am getting that pencil play on the front attack and it comes with some really nice blueberry and blackberry flavors with a slight hint of rose pedals. Finishes very nicely – the tannin structure is very relaxed, actually, for a wine this young.

2007 Santa Carolina Reserva Carmenere – Price: $15 – W.E.P. Rating: 115%

Nose: Venison, dark chocolate, cumin, blackberries, blueberries, cocoa powder, baby powder and spice.

Taste: Great mouth-feel and structure that holds it together across the entire palate. Good dark fruits and berries along with excellent cocoa and dark chocolate notes as well. Finishes very smoothly and is a wine that’ll give many USA producers fits for its price-range.

2007 VioManent Carmenere – Price: $18 – W.E.P. Rating: 110%

Nose: One of the more robust aroma’s have bell peppers I’ve had this side of a Loire Valley ab Franc. It’s as if someone shoved an entire bushel of bell peppers in with some white pepper, rhubarb, cherries and blackberries.

Taste: Rolled tobacco leaves, charred asparagus tips, bell pepper for days, white and black pepper along with some chocolate notes. This is a fabulous wine that screams out old-world in its “greeness” that I know a lot of folks – including e – really enjoy. Great finish, good acids – a no brainer.

There’s no doubt that many of the wines coming out of Chile are going to present very real challenges for areas like Napa, France and other regions which have seemed to out-price themselves.

Many of you who know me know that I’m very honest in my opinion of wines, regardless of who makes it – and to that end. I’m super excited to taste first-hand what Chile is doing with Carmenere.  I believe it’ll become a more serious play for those seeking out excellent wine values these days and makes a wonderful addition to the type of wine values myself and others are all about.

For more information on Chile, visit: www.winesofchile.org

There was a time, a few years ago, when Chilian wines were all the craze – however, they have since lost much of that hype to other regions such as Mendoza Argentina and even Portugal. It’s no secret, really, as to what causes that buzz around any particular region – it’s all about value and bringing the “goods” for the given price-points.

Montes Wines started in 1987 with two partners and has since blossomed into one of Chile’s premier wineries. They started off servicing niche markets as their competition stuck with local supermarkets – the vision has paid off for them. They have a huge passion for delivering quality-to-price ratio wines and I’m personally a huge fan of that – let’s dive in and see what these wines are all about.

2007 “Limited Selection” Sauvignon Blanc – W.E.P. Rating: 90%

• Denomination of Origin: Leyda Valley
• Vinification:  This wine has no oak aging nor malolactic fermentation
• Filtration: One earth filtering and one pad filtration.
• Yield: 6 Tons/Ha  (2,4  tons per acre)
• Variety: Sauvignon Blanc 100%.
• Cellaring Recommendations:  No more than two years
• Recommended serving Temperature:  10º a 12º C
• Decant:  Not needed
• Price: $17.00

Nose: Lemongrass, glue, asparagus pee, peach skin and grapefruit.

Taste: Super clean mouthfeel – not overly “grassy” like so many american sauv blancs are – nice acidty component coming thru across the mid-palate. Think of lemon peel, grapefruit pulp with a bunch of fresh asparagus, clay and lemongrass thrown into the mix. A really nice finish with a good amount of acidity that lingers quite a long time. This is a really easy wine to recommend – and for its price it’d be a Sauv Blanc I’d easily reach for over many other similar wines in its price range or even costing a bit higher.

2007 “Classic Series” Cabernet Sauvignon – W.E.P. Rating: 100%

• Denomination of Origin: Colchagua Valley.
• Oak Aging: American oak barrels, for six months.
• Filtering: One pad filtration.
• Yield of Vineyard: 9 tons per hectare (about 4.2 tons per acre)
• Grape Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon 85% + Merlot 15%.
• Cellaring Recommendations:  Up to 4 to 5 years.
• Recommended Serving Temperature: 18º to 19ºC.
• Decanting: Recommended to be decanted  for 30 minutes.
• Price: $12.50

Nose: Gaminess, black plums, bubbliscious, petrol, gas-pump, black cherries, fruit-cake and transmission fluid from a Cat Diesel motor we used to install at Kenworth.

Taste: If you took some black fruit like plums, blackberries and dark cherries then tossed them inside an empty diesel tank on a semi-truck then took them out and laced them with black pepper -you’d be on the right path for the flavor of this wine. It’s a bottle of funk, excellent tannin structure and a  finish to die for in a bottle of its price-range.

Winery website: www.santarita.com

If you were to ask most anyone in the wine-world – just a few short years ago – what one of the hottest wine regions going was – most likley, the answer would’ve been Chili. It created a name for itself in creating affordable Cabs and Carmenere’s which were giving folks in the northern hemisphere fits – since that time, however, things have simmered down quite a bit and Chili has lost some of its rock-star status in that regard. But all is not lost in the least – in fact, this review will show you two execeptional values for under$10 that are worth your attention.

2008 Sauvignon Blanc – W.E.P. Rating: 120%

Technical Data: 

• pH: 3.17
• acidity: 6.71g/l (expresado en Ac. Tartárico)
• alcohol: 13.8° C
• Region : Casablanca Valley
• residual sugar: 2.0g/l
• Vinification : 25% of the grapes were cold macerated for 12 hours at temperatures under 5ºC. The rest were crushed and immediately pressed. Free-run and low pressures were used to produce the Reserve level, in order to ensure high fruit concentration and a good acidity balance, which is essential to this style of fresh and crispy Sauvignon Blanc. Highly fined musts fermented allow good fruit development and retention. Some at low temperatures (10-11ºC) work on its lees is done before its fining.
• Price: $10

Nose: Grapefruit, hay, flint rock, chalk and grass.

Taste: A good amount of pea-gravel laced with fresly squeezed grapefruit juice and a chip from a bail of alfalfa hay.I also pick up some really nice hints of lemon zest and coriander. Nice lingering finish that hangs out for quite a while – a great wine with shrimp, muscles or clams. 

2007 Reserva Carmenere – W.E.P. Rating: 120%

Technical Data: 

• pH: 3.87
• Acidity: 4.82 g/l (expressed in Tartaric Acid)
• Alcohol: 14.0 ºC
• Residual sugar: 2.4 g/l
• Region : Rapel Valley
• Vinification : The crushed grapes underwent a 7-10 day cold soak prior to vinification with selected yeasts. Fermenation began at 28º-30ºC (82º-86ºF) and was later lowered to 25ºC (77ºF). Constant pumpovers and variable fermentaiton times ensure good and controlled tannin extraction. Post-fermentation maceration was conducted as determined by tastings.
• Price: $10

Nose: Classic carmenere nose with heavy black pepper, blackberry, black plums and black cherries, however it has some very strong hints of cedar-box action as well. 

Taste: A nicely fruit-driven wine that floods the tongue with an attack of black fruit cascading on your palete like a class-5 tornado. Good balance of oak, fruit and acidity make this a no-brainer wine for outdoor bbq or any sort of heavily-season meats.