Carmen Gran Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon 2012
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Winemaker Notes
This is a Classic Alto Maipo Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine has an intense deep ruby red color. The nose is fresh and clean, intense cassis, red berries, cedar notes blend nicely with graphite and minty aromas. The wine has structure and fine grained tannins proper of this terroir. A long firm wine that will evolve well in the bottle maintaining its red fruit character and the distinctive elegance Alto Maipo reflection on its wines.
This is the perfect wine to enjoy with full-flavored red meats such as lamb, ribs and beef with spicy sauces. It also goes well with wild fowl, venison, kidneys, goose and ripe cheeses.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
A rich, well-spiced red, with luscious flavors of tar, licorice and dark plum, supported by ample acidity and firm tannins. Offers a lip-smacking finish of dark chocolate and pepper. Drink now through 2019. Top Value Pick
Other Vintages
2013-
James
Suckling
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Carmen, the oldest of the Chilean wine brands, was founded in 1850 by Christian Lanz, who named it in honor of his wife. The Claro family acquired the brand in 1985 and began the process of transforming it into a world-class winery. A new winery was completed in 1992, located in the foothills of the Andes Mountains, just one hour from Chile's capital city of Santiago. Today, the winery seamlessly blends state-of-the-art technology with traditional winemaking processes.
The Carmen team firmly believes in terroir and is continually reevaluating regions and plantings in a quest to produce super premium wines that can stand shoulder to shoulder with the world’s finest. Carmen's vineyards are located throughout Chile's prestigious Central Valley in the premium growing regions of Maipo, Casablanca, Apalta, Rapel and Maule.
Carmen takes pride in its pioneering history. Carmen was the first winery in Chile to cultivate grapes organically (released under the Nativa label) and the first winery to identify and cultivate Carmenère, a variety that originated in Bordeaux but is no longer largely cultivated in France.
A noble variety bestowed with both power and concentration, Cabernet Sauvignon enjoys success all over the globe, its best examples showing potential to age beautifully for decades. Cabernet Sauvignon flourishes in Bordeaux's Medoc where it is often blended with Merlot and smaller amounts of some combination of Cabernet Franc, Malbecand Petit Verdot. In the Napa Valley, ‘Cab’ is responsible for some of the world’s most prestigious, age-worthy and sought-after “cult” wines. Somm Secret—DNA profiling in 1997 revealed that Cabernet Sauvignon was born from a spontaneous crossing of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc in 17th century southwest France.
The Maipo Valley is Chile’s most famous wine region. Set in the country’s Central Valley, it is warm and quite dry, often necessitating the use of irrigation. Alluvial soils predominate but are supplemented with loam and clay.
The climate in Maipo is best-suited for ripe, full-bodied reds like Cabernet Sauvignon (the region’s most widely planted grape), Merlot, Syrah and Carmenère, a Bordeaux variety that has found a successful home in Chile.
White wines are also produced with great prosperity, especially near the cooler coast, include Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.