Carmener grape has a really interesting history. The original grapes were from Bordeaux. This grape had disappeared from Europe completely nearly a hundred years ago and was thought to be extinct. However, it was discovered growing amongst merlot grapes in Chile. This is one of the very darkest grape varietals and needs a long growing season. Clones are now growing in Italy, California and Walla Walla in addition to the epicenter of Chile.
The history of Don Cayetano winery dates back to 1976, when Luis Felipe Cayetano Edwards purchased a large estate in Chile’s premier wine region, the Colchagua Valley. Don Cayetano is his "nickname."
The estate included 6 hectares of veteran vines: Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Carmenere planted in 1937. Between 1976 and 1994 more vineyards were planted, and throughout that period the grapes were sold on to Chile’s larger wine producers. Then in 1994 the family decided to keep back the best grapes they harvested to make a wine of their own. They built a winery and launched their first bottled wine in 1995.
Today, the estate comprises 850 hectares of vineyards on 4 properties located in Colchagua Valley, Leyda Valley and Maule Valley and also a long term grape growing contract in Casablanca and Maipo Valleys.. They are probably best known for their award winning Cabernets. The winemaker is the son-in-law of Don Cayetano who is related to the original owner of the vineyards. He studied oneology in Australia and worked with Robert Mondavi's vineyards prior to making the move to Chile.
JUST THE FACTS:
This a really beautiful garnet colored wine.
The nose is woody (cedar) and herbal with faint hints of cherry. Paul could smell the tannins as well.
On the tongue, we tasted predominantly the tannins to begin with on a super long finish, but after we ate some of the mole, the fruit really hit us: black cherry, plum and blackberry with a slight cinnamon note. It may have benefited from a long decant. We opened the bottle about an hour before dinner, so I suggest a decant of at least an hour to fully appreciate this wine.
Ratings on this bottle range from 85-89.
This bottle is certainly available for under $20 and I saw one site in which it was available for $9.99.
Salud!
WINE QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“I like on the table,
when we're speaking,
the light of a bottle
of intelligent wine.”
― Pablo Neruda
when we're speaking,
the light of a bottle
of intelligent wine.”
― Pablo Neruda
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