At the wine tasting event I attended two evenings ago, I was exposed to a really terrific red that I'm going to look for when I'm out and about. It was a Chilensis Reserva Carmenere 2008, an elegant but friendly wine that originates in the Maule Valley of Chile.
Being new to wine criticism, I'm really not up to articulating in my own words (beyond my elegant but friendly phrase above) what was so great about this wine, so I looked for a description on the web that would generate a nod of agreement on my part. And I found such a description at the web site of K&D Wines & Spirits, a New York retailer. Here's what K&D had to say:
The 2008 Chilensis Reserva Carmenere is bright and clean, with a deep violet-red color. Intense and elegant aromas of black fruit such as blackberry and plum meld with spicy aromas of black pepper and bay leaf. Its months of oak aging lend delicious notes of caramel, chocolate, vanilla, and tobacco. On the palate, smooth, elegant tannins are complemented by enveloping flavors of ripe red fruits and present a pleasing and persistent finish with good volume.
Well, to be candid, I don't know that I tasted all that, but I won't argue. I did notice an immediate rich, satisfying taste, shortly followed by a number of subtle secondary flavors. Hmmm, maybe I'm starting to pick up the jargon, after all.
Anyway, to leave you with one more bit of good news, Chilensis Reserva Carmenere currently goes for a very affordable 11 or 12 dollars a bottle. But it really does taste like something that would go for at least twice that.
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