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Carmenere


cjsadler

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One question for folks here in general: Has anyone here ever had a Carmenere wine that they really enjoyed? I mean, the sort of wine that makes you go, "Oh, baby! I gots to get me a case o' this!"

I never have. Seriously, I've never found a Carmenere wine that I thought was fit to drink.

Anyone care to suggest one that rocked their world and made your ears flap?

Montes Purple Angel. I don't know about ear flapping, but more than fit to drink (I personally wouldn't spend the money on it, though-- it runs about $50)
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$50 for Carmenere? :( Yikes.... it BETTER be more than just "fit to drink" for that!

The Purple Angel is one of those highly extracted, "Parkerized" wines that are meant to make a point - in this case, Aurelio Montes is making the point that Carmenere can produce a world class wine. It is at least as good as many other $50 wines I've tasted, though I personally don't buy wines in this range as I have a family to feed and a mortgage to pay.

A few years ago in the Giliberti/Franz era, the Post Food section ran a debate between the two of them, with Ben absolutely hating Carmenere and Michael defending it. It was entertaining, not only because it illustrated that there is no absolute objective truth about what makes a good wine, but also because they got rather nasty and personal about it, in a supposedly humorous sort of way. DornenPage might do a he said/she said, but they'd never divorce over a Carmenere. :(

Joe, I take it you'd agree with Ben on this one.

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Interesting article. I like reading about people who do these sorts of things.

One question for folks here in general: Has anyone here ever had a Carmenere wine that they really enjoyed? I mean, the sort of wine that makes you go, "Oh, baby! I gots to get me a case o' this!"

I never have. Seriously, I've never found a Carmenere wine that I thought was fit to drink.

Anyone care to suggest one that rocked their world and made your ears flap?

I tasted Clos Apalta, and thought it was delicious.

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Joe, I take it you'd agree with Ben on this one.

Well, I can't say that I HATE Carmenere, I've simply never found one that I enjoyed. I certainly haven't done exhaustive tasting of the Carmenere market, that's for sure. If I had to list every wine that I've ever tried labeled "Carmenere" (as opposed to Carmenere blends) it probably wouldn't number over a dozen.

Hate is a pretty strong word. I don't hate Carmenere, they simply make me shrug my shoulders and say, "Ehhh..." I can't swear that I've had one that I found truly objectionable, just sort-of.... dull. Lacking elements of interest and/or excitement.

Believe me, I'd enjoy being proved wrong. I'd love it if someone said, "Okay, here's the Carmenere to end all arguments, the paradigm of what GOOD Carmenere is." and poured me a glass to change my opinion on Carmenere for all time.

I used to feel the same way about Pinotage, but I found a few examples over the years which were remarkable. Still, too many others resemble burning tires to my palate.

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