Tasting Note                         

90+  2009  Clos Ouvert  Carmenere (Valle del Maule - Chile)   12/25/12 ($27)

100% Carmenere  14% alc  
Color: Deep purple garnet. (3.0) Bouquet: Has an herbal richness of fresh cooking spices and mint with some white chalk complementing tart cherry fruit. (3.0) Body: Silky/tangy mouthfeel with excellent fruit and acidity on a solid middleweight frame. Could have more tannins. (3.0) Flavor: Parallels bouquet with intense oregano and rich tawny port flavors. Very interesting and differerent. (3.0) Finish: Long and interesting, but not as intense as the flavor with gray clay and herbs lingering. (3.0)
Overall: Has a lot of character on an elegant, flavor-infused, middleweight frame. Does have a very slight spritz that is typical of many biodynamic French wines. Stylistically, this drinks somewhere in between a Cabernet Franc from the Loire and a St. Emilion with extra life in the flavor, due in part to the use of carbonic maceration. No surprise this tastes like a French wine, since the winemaker (Louis-Antoine Luyt) is a disciple of Marcel Lapierre, the famous Cru Beaujolais winemaker. Shows wonderful herbal complexity and lively tart cherry fruit. Can be drunk now, but will be interesting to see where this goes with 3-5 years bottle age. (15.0)

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