Terra Andina Altos Carménère Carignan

As I think back on the wines we’ve tasted over the past year, one stands out in my mind as being really interesting… and I’m just now getting it posted to the site.  Perhaps it stands out, in part, because we tasted it near the end of the year, but it is also just a cool wine.  And you’ll see with this review that it’s not all about the numbers.  I really, really dig this wine and yet it didn’t get a 90+ rating.  Why not? Because it could have had a bit more concentration in the flavors and finish was good but not extraordinary.  Still, I love this wine!

Terra Andina is a winery, not a vineyard, meaning that they source their grapes from other growers rather than managing their own vineyards.  This gives them the ability to select grapes from different regions of Chile without managing their own vineyards in those regions.  They are headquartered in Santiago and owned by Claro Group, the same company that owns Santa Rita winery, Carmen, Doña Paula and other Chilean wine properties.

The blend in the 2007 Terra Andina Altos Carménère Carignan is 60% Carménère, a traditional Bordeaux grape variety that was once thought lost until it was rediscovered in Chile.  The other 40% is obviously Carignan, another old world grape variety most prevalent in France, and in particular the Languedoc-Roussillon region.  Terra Andina is the first Chilean producer to release a Carménère Carignan blend, and I’m glad they did.

This is a really interesting wine.  There’s a ton of complexity and unique, yet pleasing characteristics to the nose, with aromas of stewed tomatoes, cherry, cola and pencil shavings. There’s also plenty of fruit flavors on the palate, primarily plum and blueberry.  White pepper and oak come in on the finish.  One of the things I love about this wine is that it has an old world, rustic quality as well as a new world fruit quality.

The stewed tomato characteristic makes me want to enjoy this wine with a tomato-based pasta dish.  I think it would pair beautifully.  This is a cool wine.

Wine: Terra Andina Altos
Variety: Carménère Carignan blend
Vintage: 2007
Alcohol: 14%
Rating: 88
Price: $19.00

Find Terra Andina Altos Carménère Carignan with Snooth

Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.