Chilean Carmenere

Welcome to Monsoon Season! In Arlington it's raining steadily, as it has been over much of the mid-eastern states for the last several days. In Hyattsville over the weekend they had the most rain ever recorded in a 24-hour period. That includes hurricane Agnes in '72 - more than 10 inches fell. Pretty remarkable!

Before all the rain hit I wandered by Safeway to pick up dinner, and saw a wine variety I was unfamiliar with. I picked it up on whim and because of some synchronicity. I had a conversation some time ago with my co-worker AstroBoy about Chilean wines and where they grow. He spent some time in Chilé doing astronomy work but didn't manage to do any winery tours or sight-seeing. The office talk made me think about the wines of Chilé and resolve to do a bit of research. Chilé is a pretty vast country covering numerous latitudes and has some prime climatic conditions for grape growing. My theory is that as globalization spreads further many more Chilean wines will show up in the local grocery stores.

Tada! The 2005 Casillero del Diablo Carmenere is a new arrival at Safeway. At $10 I was willing to take a chance on a total unknown. Wow I'm glad I did - this is probably the best $10 wine I've ever had. It has an aroma of toffee and spices. Distinct toast, chocolate and coffee flavors are immediately apparent, balanced with good acidity and a touch of exotic fruit. The tannin content is pretty low (putting it near Merlot) but it's not missed here due to the oak aging. This will go well with big foods and soups but is fine for a stand-alone taste as well. It totally blows away cheap Australian Shiraz.

Casillero del Diablo is run by Concha y Toro, the large and famous Spanish winery. Some info about Caremenere can be found here and here. Apparently in Chilé it used to be mistaken for Merlot and used interchangeably with that grape. I can feel the Merlot in this Carmenere, but they've propped up the flavor with Cabernet and Syrah grape.

I also had a chance to try a bit of 2003 Seebrich Spätlese Riesling from Germany. Spätlese means "late harvest" and there are the usual colorful legends surrounding how and why the grapes were harvested beyond peak ripeness. Because of the very high sugar content and slight spoilage of the grapes, Spätlese is a sweet Riesling. In California the trend is definitely towards dry Rieslings, and I enjoy those very much. The sweetness of this wine means that you will want to accompany it with something equally sweet, perhaps cheesecake and cherries or a similar rich desert. I enjoyed the flavor of the wine but wasn't able to pair it properly with food and get the full experience of it. (I didn't know what Spätlese meant until I'd tasted the wine.)

I have some new things to try thanks to a 15% off case sale at the 'Teeter, so more later in the week!