A Mighty Big Carmenere…
So I’ve been getting to know the Carmenere grape over the course of the last few months, and I gotta say, “I aint mad at it…”. The grape that the Chileans call their own makes a mighty fine drinking wine, especially for the $15.00 prices I’ve been finding. So when I saw this bottle for $30.00, I wasn’t sure if I should bite. I mean, twice as much? At that price point, there are a lot of wine options out there…
Being the adventurist that I am, I threw caution to the wind and laid down my cash. It was put up or shut up time. No food, no appetizers, just Jeff, myself and this big, bad bottle of 2006 De Martino “Alto de Piedra” Carmenere from the Maipo Valley region of Chile.
As we poured the wine into the decanter, we noticed the dark, inky color of the wine right away; and it smelled like a winner, with lots of dark berries on the nose. On the palate, it was more of the same, blackberries, black cherries, a touch of licorice, spice, chocolate and pepper, with a nice, long finish.
No food was needed with this wine, it was a meal in itself… but I imagine it would go well with a big steak, or would be a nice pour the next time I have tamale night. Definitely worth the thirty bucks.
