Carmen - New Passion in the Alto Maipo

Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards at Carmen estate in the Alto Jahuel district of the Alto Maipo, Chile (Photo ©Tom Hyland)



No puedes hablar de pasión. Si no lo has probado.
You can’t talk about passion. You have to taste it. – Slogan for Carmen Winery


It’s a natural thought process to focus on what’s new and trendy and overlook an established commodity. The wine media does it all the time, so it may not be a surprise that you don’t hear much about Carmen Winery in Chile, as it was founded in 1850. But you’d be missing out on some gorgeous wines if you didn’t include Carmen in your list of the best Chilean wine estates.

This may be Chile’s oldest wine house, but there have been numerous changes over the past 25 years. The winery was purchased in 1987 by a new ownership group and a new winery was built in 1992 in the Alto Jahuel section of the Alto Maipo, southeast of Santiago. The Alto Maipo is a very different section of the Maipo Valley than the vineyards in the western reaches of the valley, where the more fertile soils yield pleasant, if unexciting wines. The Alto Maipo, with vineyards at elevations above 2000 feet, is an ideal spot for producing full-bodied wines with excellent acidity, as the cool nights at the high elevations assure proper backbone and structure in the wines. “This is the only place in the Maipo to make great Cabernet Sauvignon,” says Carmen chief winemaker Stefano Gandolini.

There are a few dozen estates that produce sumptuous reds here and Carmen is one of the finest. There are several lines of Carmen wines, starting with the classic bottlings in the $8-9 price range which are produced primarily from grapes grown in Chile’s Central Valley. What I’d like to focus on however are the Reserve wines along with the Winemaker’s Reserve wines as well as the Gold Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

I won’t go into every wine here, but among the Reserve wines, three stand out in my mind. The 2008 Sauvignon Blanc Reserve (about $15 retail) has nice varietal intensity with flavors of grapefruit and a hint of lime, lively acidity and a long, richly flavored finish. What an ideal choice for ceviche, shrimp or scallops.

The 2006 Carménère-Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve ($16) has exotic aromas of menthol and oregano with rich black fruit flavors and notes of tobacco in the finish along with round tannins. This is quite elegant and is a perfect foil for most red meats; if you love South American cuisine, this is heavenly with empanadas!

My favorite Reserve is the Merlot ($16); given how boring most bottlings of Merlot are, this is saying something. The trick here is that the grapes are from Casablanca Valley, a much cooler region than Maipo. This means better acidity, which gives this wine excellent structure, freshness and a clean, bright finish. This is simply a delicious wine with tasty black cherry and red plum flavors and an elegance from start to finish. If only more Merlots were made with this amount of care! Foods for this- you name it! This is an important wine, not only because it’s well made, but because it’s a well-made Merlot for $16. I’d go out and buy several bottles or a case if I were you!

The 2007 Winemaker’s Reserve Chardonnay, also from Casablanca Valley, has Meursault-like qualities about it, with its rich fruit and notable spice. The flavors are quite attractive – pear, pineapple and quince and there’s just the right amount of oak along with a nice touch of minerality in the finish. This has another 2-3 years of life ahead of it and it’s a fine value at $25.

The 2005 Winemaker’s Reserve Red is a gorgeous blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Carménère, Syrah, Merlot and Petite Sirah that is truly something special. Loaded with layers of fruit and boasting flavors of black plum, cassis and milk chocolate, this sports a lengthy finish with elegant tannins and beautiful structure. I see this wine aging well for as long as 12-15 years, making the $45 price tag a steal. How good this wine is with roast pork or most game dishes!


Gold Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

Finally there is the 2005 Gold Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon produced from a single vineyard at the Alto Jahuel estate. This vineyard was planted in 1953; the wine displays the intensity and breeding of these old vines along with wonderful suppleness and structure. This is a powerful wine, yet at the same time beautifully balanced with an extremely long finish. It’s excellent now and may just turn out to be outstanding in 12-15 years; like any red wine of this caliber and strength, this needs time to settle down. The price is approximately $70 a bottle, which puts it on an equivalent level with the best red wines of the Alto Maipo.

So from an old, established winery, beautiful new wines. Congratulations to head winemaker Stefano Gandolini and the other member of his winemaking team, Sebastián Labbé and Alejandra Vallejo for their outstanding work!

Alejandra Vallejo, one of the winemakers at Carmen (Photo ©Tom Hyland)

Santa Rita - Old World Chilean Charm

Chile has been defined as a New World country regarding its wines, but during my recent visit, I found notable examples of Old World appeal and sophistication in the wine country. Santa Rita, one of the country’s best-known wine estates, is an ideal example of that allure.

Founded in 1880, Santa Rita is located in the Alto Jahuel area of the Maipo Valley, about 45 minutes southeast of Santiago, the country’s capital city. While the Maipo Valley is famous for the class and breeding of its wines (especially red), it is this area known as the Alto Maipo that is home to the most complex, longest-lived Cabernet Sauvignons and other red wines. Vineyards here are situated at 1200-2000 feet above sea level and provide ideal conditions for full-bodied reds, given the naturally limiting yields and the cool temperatures that mean extra hangtime.



What I love about Santa Rita is the care and attention to detail the owners have brought to this estate. Stroll the grounds and you’d think you were in the 1880s, as you sit on the veranda of the hotel and take in the beauty of the 100-acre park with its array of chestnut, almond, olive and cedar trees standing alongside a marvelous collection of mythological statues and an impressive chapel. Few wine estates I have visited in the world offer an entrancing atmosphere such as this.


Additional beauty is found by simply driving into the estate alongside the vineyards. The Alto Jahuel Mountains provide a dramatic backdrop and many rows are fronted by huge red roses. How can you not have positive thoughts about the wines produced here when you experience nature in this fashion?

As for the wines themselves, Santa Rita has several ranges, all well made. The entry level is called “120,” which is named for 120 Chilean patriots who led the fight for the country’s independence. These are $8-$9 retail wines in the US and while there are several other Chilean producers that also make wines at this level, few do it as well as Santa Rita. Particularly nice are the 2008 Sauvignon Blanc with pleasant melon and spearmint flavors and the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon with good varetal character and a clean, lightly tannic finish.

I won’t go through all the wines here, but there are excellent examples in every category. For the Reserva line, the 2008 Sauvignon Blanc from Casablanca Valley and the 2007 Carménère from Rapel Valley are especially noteworthy. The Medalla Real wines, priced in the $18-20 category are especially elegant and complex; the 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon from Maipo (much of it from the Alto Jahuel estate) and the 2007 Carménère from Colchagua are beauties; each displaying elegance, spice, complexity and a great deal of class.


Santa Rita winemaker, Andrés Ilabaca (Photo ©Tom Hyland)


Winemaker Andrés Ilabaca deserves a lot of credit for crafting so many fine bottlings in so many categories. Of course, the agronomists and Mother Nature have a lot ot say in the final product as well, but it’s impressive what Ilabaca has done with all of these wines!

One thing I love about Santa Rita is their work with Carménère, a variety that should be better known. Cuttings of this cultivar were brought to Chile from Bordeaux in the 1850s and for over a century, most wineries thought this plant was Merlot. This mistake was finally recognized in 1994 and wineries have been labeling the wines made from this variety correctly ever since. But for those waiting to witness a new wave of excitement with Carménère, well, it just hasn’t happened.

There are two main reasons for this, the most important being the imperfect guesswork done with this variety. Much of the plantings were in zones that were too cool; now growers and enologists have discovered that Carménère works best in warmer zones, which helps promote ripeness and lessen the green, overly herbaceous character. A second reason has to do with marketing as some in the industry have recommended to Chile’s producers to focus on Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon and not worry about Carménère.

Well, I think this “keep it simple, stupid” philosophy is a dumb one, especially when you taste some of the best examples of Carménère from Santa Rita and other producers. The Medalla Real bottling from 2007 has aromas of black plum, molasses and tar and offers a rich mid-palate and a long finish with round elegant tannins. “Carménère has a lot of tannins,” says Ilabaca, “but they are silky and not overly aggressive.” Ilabaca has also produced a premium Carménère called Pehuén, blended with 15% Cabernet Sauvignon and also uses Carménère in a gorgeous red known as Triple C, a blend of Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Carménère. Clearly Santa Rita is one of the leading proponents of Carménère in Chile; they should be commended for ignoring marketing suggestions and proceeding with the necessary research for this important variety.

Cecilia Torres, winemaker, Casa Real (Photo ©Tom Hyland)

One final wine from Santa Rita that deserves mention is the Casa Real, a Cabernet Sauvignon made from the oldest vineyards (average age 45-50 years) on the Alto Jahuel property. Winemaker Cecilia Torres led me through a tasting of four vintages of this glorious wine, from the current 2005 offering back to the 1995 bottling. She mentioned that the Casa Real wines of the 1990s were affected by the El Niño conditions which resulted in droughts throughout Chile (especially severe in 1999), yielding wines of a more powerful nature than normal. Torres told me that she always aims for “elegance over opulence,” so she prefers the recent releases. The 2005 (US retail, $75) is a gorgeous wine with beautiful red plum, cassis and cedar aromas, excellent depth of fruit and a beautifully structured finish; I look for this wine to be at its peak in 12-15 years.

Elegance is indeed the key to Casa Real and to the Santa Rita philosophy. How lovely a thought to consider while having your appetizers of local seafood on the patio at the estate's restaurant. You know, the people that run Santa Rita have got their priorities straight – wine and food provide harmony in our lives. Some wineries may live and die on magazine ratings, but not Santa Rita.

Text and photos ©Tom Hyland