Errazuriz Aconcagua Alto Carmenere

Errazuriz’s philosophy is best expressed by Don Maximiano who said, “From the best land, the best wine.” Vina Errazuriz believe in the concept of ‘terroir’ and strive to produce the finest wines by controlling every stage of the winemaking process, from grape growing in the Aconcagua and Casablanca valleys, to winemaking with the most natural techniques. An emphasis is placed on the delicate handling of the wines, with the aim of producing wines with elegance and complexity.

Carmenere,

The grapes for the Aconcagua Alto Carmenère primary come from a selection of different Max vineyard blocks in the Aconcagua Valley. Located in the interior of the valley, the vineyard soils have a predominantly silty texture and are of colluvial origin. The special conditions of nutrition and drainage of the diverse soils help control plant vigour, producing balanced fruit loads with small bunches and berries.

Grapes where handpicked, double sorted and then crushed. The must was deposited into stainless steel tanks for fermentation. Then, the wine was moved directly to French oak barrels, 30% of which were new, where it underwent malolactic fermentation and was aged for a total of 14 months.

Beautiful cherry red colour with violet hues. The nose delivers black cherries, cigar box, black olives, roasted red pepper and a soft hint of ripe blackberries. With an elegant entrance, the palate offers red and black fruits accompanied by soft notes of tobacco, cloves and some bitter chocolate. With silky tannins, it delivers a great sensation of freshness and good volume, with a long and pleasant finish.

Ideal with spicy pork & bean casseroles, grilled meats and mature cheese.

Nolan - Text from the Spotlight on the Red Wines of the America's Blog

For our second wine of Chile, we will look at what is considered the "national grape" of the country; Carmenere. The common thread that unites many of the famous red grapes that have become the bread and butter of Latin American wine, such as Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Tannat, Malbec & this wines focus, Carmenere is that they all originate in the South West of France.

Today, Carmenere plantings in its home of Bordeaux are very rare. A few wines still use a very small proportion of Carmenere in their blend, but they are a minority. The grape was once a staple of the Medoc but by the mid 19th century it had been wiped out by phylloxera and was thought to have been extinct. Luckily for us, one of the largest mistakes in viticultural history saved the varietal.

Before its extinction in France, enterprising Chilean viticulturalists took cuttings of Merlot, or what they believed to be Merlot, to replant in Chile. This was an easy mistake to make as the berry clusters and vine leaves are almost identical. The problem is, Carmenere takes at least two weeks longer to ripen compared to Merlot. The growers were doing nothing wrong, they were just working with the collective wisdom for growing Merlot instead of Carmenere, the result was varietally labelled Merlot's that had a distinctive underripe, green note to them. The error was not realised until DNA tests were conducted in 1994. Since its identification, Carmenere grapes are now given the extra hang time on the vines it needs to fully ripen and has become Chile's unique selling point being the only country with any significant plantings.

The internationally famous Errazuriz winery is based in the Aconcagua Valley. Here, they make wines across the three East to West zones of the Aconcagua, fresh vibrant wines in the Pacific/coastal zone, surprisingly good, more commercial wines in the Central zone and then some impressively expressive styles in the high-altitude Andean zone.

Climatically, the Aconcagua is a Mediterranean climate, with warm summers and mild winters. The majority of the rainfall occurs in the winter outside the growing season and most importantly, outside harvest time leading to more concentration in unirrigated vines. The wine selected for today is the "Alto Carmenere." This wine is picked from vines grown in the higher reaches of Chile's Andean range. This added altitude provides a larger diurnal swing to the grape vines. Hot sunny days lead into cool nights allowing the ripening and hang time for the grapes to be extended leading to riper phenolics in the grape skins and a wider flavour profile whilst retaining the grapes acidity. The vineyard soils have a predominantly silty texture and are of colluvial origin having descended from the heights of the Andean peaks. The special conditions of nutrition and drainage of the soils helps to control plant vigour, producing balanced fruit loads with small bunches and berries. A quote from Don Maximiano, founder of Errazuriz, encapsulates the growing conditions in the Aconcagua, "From the best land, the best wine."

This Carmenere grapes for this Alto wine are handpicked and aged in French oak barrels, 30% of which were new, where it underwent malolactic fermentation and was aged for a total of 14 months. The result is a brilliant cherry coloured and cherry scented wine. The wine is savoury as all the best Carmenere's should be with notes of black olive, tobacco, bell pepper and paprika. This wine is responsible for my all-time favourite food and wine pairing. If you have a spare 8 hours or so, you need to have this with the best damned goulash you've ever cooked. Bust out the slow cooker and add more paprika than you think is reasonable, then add some more... Holy cow it works so well with this wine!