Casa Silva Carmenere Reserva 2023 - Chile

Rich and velvety, with luscious dark fruit flavors of blackberry and plum, complemented by subtle notes of bell peppers and a lingering, elegant finish.

Once a prized grape of Bordeaux, Carmenère was favoured until vines were devastated by the phylloxera bug at the end of the 19th century, it was then largely abandoned. The variety remained forgotten until the 1990s, when it was discovered among the Merlot vines in Chile. Indeed, its wines were so smooth and plummy, growers had mistaken the vines for Merlot. But Carmenère has a lovely richness and spice that marks it out from Merlot and, like Argentina and Malbec, Chile has adopted the grape as its own.