BODEGAS VINA CARMEN - RANCAGUA, CHILE

Carmen Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2000 - Chile

My first trip to Santiago de Chile was at the end of the year 1973 it was then when a military Junta led by General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte took over control of the country through a 'coup de etat', from the socialist president Salvador Allende y Gossens who was a Marxist physician elected by the socialist party. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chile.

During this trip while I was establishing contacts to sell raw sugar to the chilean sugar refineries, I met with a group that was handling the rush sale of a winery. BODEGAS VI~NA CARMEN. Being a young and not wealthy man at the time, I took a written offer from them and went back home to New York to look for financing, needless to say I did not buy it. The price was very, but very low like many properties in Chile being sold by Allende's socialist friends in a rush to liquidate their assets in the country after the coup.

Very silly of me, that would have been the opportunity of a lifetime.

Here is the winery in the deal that I never made.

Carmen is an amazing property. This great Chilean estate has the uncanny ability to consistently turn out top notch wines from each of its premium varietals, and the 2000 Carmen Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is indeed another great effort from Chile's 'grande dame' of exquisite properties.

Carmen is Chile's oldest wine brand, dating back to 1850. A century and a half ago Christian Lanz founded Vina Carmen and lovingly named the estate's beautiful vineyards for his wife. Today, Vina Carmen remains the showpiece Lanz envisioned more than a century and half ago. Combining tradition, superb vineyards and a new state of the art winery constructed in 1992, Vina Carmen is currently South America's leading winery as well as its oldest. Under winemakers Alvaro Espinoza and Matias Lecaros, Carmen has for the past four years (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000) been named 'Top Winery of the Year' by Wine & Spirits magazine, and current offerings look to be the finest this winery has produced to date.
Presently, the more than 500 acres of Carmen Vineyards spread across several valleys and many micro-climates surrounding Chile's capital, Santiago. This constellation of microclimates allows Carmen to select the best grape varieties for each area and to excel with many different grapes and styles of wine. The winery has been extremely successful with French varietals, including the unique, lesser-known Bordeaux varietals, including Chile's own 'indigenous' grape, Carmenere.

Internationally renowned winemaker, Alvaro Espinoza, joined Carmen in 1993 and for the past nine years has been augmenting his reputation by producing many of South America's most compelling wines. Alvaro, known both as a winemaker and a wine grower, has also instituted organic farming at Carmen. Beginning the endeavor with a 50-acre vineyard for Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay for the winery's luxury 'Nativa' label, Carmen's mission each year is to increase the vineyard parcels grown under environmental sustainable standards. Using organic methods, the winery reduces the impact upon nature as much as possible and produces increasingly more interesting wines. Presently, Carmen uses no pesticides in their vineyards and is leading the way in Chile toward more environmentally sensitive viticulture. It has also made the commitment to bottle its estate bottled Reserve red wines unfiltered.

In order to insure that Carmen's future will remain as bright as it's past, Carmen has retained the articulate and energetic Matias Lecaros as winemaker. Matias belongs to a traditional Chilean family that has been involved in agriculture and winegrowing since the 17th century. His father's family is originally from Ponguehue where they pioneered the plantation of vineyards in the Aconcaqua Valley, now one of Chile's most important viticultural appellations. Matias brings with him the ability and experience to continue Carmen's tradition of producing some of the best wines on the continent.

Tasting Notes: Reticent at first sniff, the 2000 Carmen Cabernet Sauvignon explodes after fifteen or twenty minutes open, revealing a seductive potpourri of blackberry, wild blueberry, bramble and eucalyptus. In the mouth, this wine continues to work its charm, coating the palate with rich textured fruit that is redolent with blackberry and cassis, smoke and jam. Each sip begs to be savored, pleading the gullet not to swallow and end the interlude, but alas' the goodness doesn't end with a swallow. The finish on this Carmen Cabernet combines consummate flavor with ripe tannins that haunts the senses. A medium to full-bodied wine, the 2000 Carmen Cabernet Sauvignon aptly demonstrates how well the finest Chilean reds combine the best attributes of fine Bordeaux with the ripe textured feel of the best New World Cabernet Sauvignons. We suggest serving the Reserve Carmen Cabernet after at least twenty to thirty minutes breathing time. Actually, a half hour in a decanter would work absolute magic with this wine, so be sure not to cheat yourself.

Enjoy!