CARMÉNÈRE is the Grape BORDEAUX Forgot!!!

[@diegogodinhorocha9448]

Carmenère is my first love in wine - and the relationship is still going on smoothly. When in doubt - and cashed out - I tend to pick cheapo Carmenères, and they usually don't fail me. There's a quest in Chile to remove the "greeness" from Carmenère, that I find a bit frustrating, but I get it. People love big Cabs, so there's a tendency in Chile and Argentina to make big wines out of those unique grapes like Carmenère, Cab Franc and Syrah. The thing I love the most about the wine I've had the most in my life - CyT's Carmenère from the Casillero del Diablo range - is the way the greeness manifests itself: with the smell of rain. I love it! I recognize it instantly. It might be my favorite smell in wine. Undurraga's Terroir Hunter range does the same thing with a little bit more flare. Those wines are crazy cheap and very entertaining. The more expensive Carmenères I've had - all from acclaimed producers, like CyT (Terrunyo), Errazuriz and Ventisquero - they do a great job of hiding the greeness, so they lose points with me. Thre are only 2 grapes that I prefer the cheaper versions over the more expensive ones: Carmenère and Tempranillo. Up to Casillero's threshold, at least to me, the cheaper a Chilean Carmenère is, probably the more fun I'll have with it. By the way - and don't get me wrong, because I love your videos - I couldn't stop imagining how it would be if Beavis & Butthead were watching you venting about wood. I'm not even drinking! I guess I'm just silly. Very nice tasting.

[@drmatthewhorkey]

I like greeness too!! Hahahhahah Beavis and Butthead hahahahha that is cracking me up

[@jmwoz3109]

Two words. Purple Angel. Love the video ❤

[@drmatthewhorkey]

You’ll see it in a future video

[@daneaucker247]

I just tried Carmenere for the first time a week or two ago. Great little grape that many are unfamiliar with! I'll have to hunt for some of these. Great video Dr Matthew!

[@drmatthewhorkey]

Happy hunting!

[@garysargent9434]

Love your videos Matthew. We run a wine tourism company and spend Feb - April in Chile every year so if you come down we could show you around the regions.

[@drmatthewhorkey]

🙏🙏🙏🙏

[@KyleCrawford-k5o]

When I recently visited San Leonardo, I came away with their single varietal carmenere - it was absolutely incredible, even as a 2019! Definitely a varietal that is oft slept on.

[@drmatthewhorkey]

Glad you liked it! What a great producer

[@Docbyday]

Opened a Clos Apalta 2016 recently and it was singing during a steak dinner. My BIL who is an occasional wine drinker dubbed it “nectar from the gods”. High praise and well-deserved, superb balance with just the right amount of those green notes!

[@drmatthewhorkey]

Fantastic wine, it showed up in a previous video

[@guilhermef6066]

Dear Dr Matthew, i loved this video. i can say that i’m a carmenere hunter…rsrs. Is hard to get in chille the ones without high notes of pirazine. But when you get this ones is pure joy. If you haven’t tried yet, please give a chance to Carmin the peumo, purple angel (both from chile) and the villa canthus carmenere (small producer from italy). For me, are outstanding wines Ps: as you, huge fan of san leonardo wine. And i loved oblicqua as well

[@drmatthewhorkey]

🙏🙏🙏🙏

[@andrewkarl5174]

Just returned from South America and had some great carmenere. The wine making there is stellar. The wines in both, Argentina, and Chile are fantastic. You need to check out the Americas, both north and south

[@drmatthewhorkey]

Nicccee, always the explorer are you!

[@fitnesswitheasye5722]

Haven’t tried this grape yet. Still making my way through trying out different varietals from different countries. Looking forward to the Pinot noir video soon. Just went wine tasting in Santa Barbara county and am still thinking about one of the high end Pinot noirs o tasted.

[@drmatthewhorkey]

I love SBC Pinot!

[@jlynn1304]

I was hoping to see Montes Purple Angel under one of those bags. I've never tried it because of the price but I've tried quite a few tasty Carmeneres around $20-25 that I always enjoy.

[@drmatthewhorkey]

You’ll see it in a future video

[@joe-zp7ge]

i havent had much luck with carmenere in the past because i felt they lack the complexity that i find in many other grapes but after this video i will attempt to find one of these recommendations.perhaps the ones with a touch of cabernet franc will awaken my senses.

[@drmatthewhorkey]

I think you could be pleasantly suprised with a few here

[@hocheye]

Love Carmenere! Ftom Chile. Value for the money, Santa Corlina El Pacto Agreement No2 2021 . I have had many of these. The fruit comes through with the spicy jalapeno notes! Love it!

[@drmatthewhorkey]

Spicy jalepeño! Good call

[@aaronchan2942]

As someone who is used to Chilean Carmenere, I found the San Leonardo version to be a breath of fresh air. When I had it, it took a while to open up. After 5-6 hours and on the next day it moved from 90 pts to 93+ for me. The main difference to me was the acid. Most standard Chilean Carmenere have a darker fruit profile and are lower in acid. The San Leonardo one was more red fruit driven pushing it towards Sangiovese or Loire CF, but it could depend on the vintage. Another Carmenere to seek out is Antiyal Escorial Carmenere which is completely unoaked and red-fruit driven. One of the best for the price is De Martino's Alto de Piedras.

[@drmatthewhorkey]

👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 and you would know! Hope to see you down there

[@aaronchan2942]

@@drmatthewhorkey You're welcome anytime.

[@BrianHaines-c2v]

Thank you for the video on Carmenere, have really gotten into the Chilean wines as of late, great alternative to Pinot noir and Sangiovese

[@drmatthewhorkey]

They can deliver a lot of value for money

[@piantaluich]

Carmenere is great, i usually buy it in hot vintages, the bell pepper becomes more restrained and shows elegance and leanness that other Bordeaux varieties don't get in hot years.

[@drmatthewhorkey]

Good call

[@ignacioruiz5824]

Hello!! Great video. As I watched it I opened a bottle of "Tierras Moradas", a 2022 carmenere from Viña San Pedro. Paid a bit under 20 bucks for it and it's a killer wine. It comes from the Maule River Valley so from a tad colder weather than the ones you tried today. Put it in your list for your Chile trip. Salud!!

[@drmatthewhorkey]

Niceee!

[@FridayFishFacts]

Black hills in the okanagan makes a good one

[@drmatthewhorkey]

😮😮😮

[@dennisrosa1551]

Interesting, Liberty Vineyards on the Lake Erie wine trail in Western New York found they had Carmenere too that they thought was Merlot. Their's is great also. Love this grape, made some homemade wine from Chilian juice. Makes good wine. Thanks for the great reviews, and I enjoyed your wine glass review too. Dennis Rosa

[@drmatthewhorkey]

😮😮😮😮

[@JosePerez-mc4nu]

If you want great value and love carmenere, get the Le Petit Clos Apalta before it gets too expensive. Get the 2018/19 if you can find it. It goes for around $40 - $45.

[@drmatthewhorkey]

It showed up in a previous video!

[@hellomoto170]

Unfortunately one of the issues with entry-level wine is the absence of varietal characteristic. If we take Carmenere as an example, I have only tried fairly cheap versions from Chile and I can barely tell from those what the grape variety is supposed to taste like. I seem to recall chocolate notes but apart from that I'm not sure.

[@drmatthewhorkey]

Cheaper ones can be boring indeed