Tres Palacios Family Vintage Carmenere 2012
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Pair with red meats, casseroles, pasta and strong cheeses.
Once they had found this mystical land 20 years ago, they decided to add an element they consider fundamental: the passage of time, thus respecting the rhythms of this activity and obtaining the perfect fruit that characterizes the wines of Tres Palacios today.
Vina Tres Palacios is a family-run company founded in 1996 by Patricio Palacios and his wife Maria Inés Covarrubias. Together they accepted the challenge and made the commitment to this adventure with the objective of leaving behind a legacy that will pass on the essence of tradition to the Palacios-Covarrubias family.
The cornerstone of this inheritance is the production of very high-quality, high-image wines based on grapes grown under the strictest standards of quality control. This is how their extraordinary wines began, and in just a very short period they began attracting considerable attention and earning awards in major international competitions.
Motivated by their enterprising spirit and thoroughly aware of the strong competition, they decided to take a different approach to this industry that is increasingly demanding of quality and innovation. With patience—and much passion—they began their search for an area that had never before been used for winemaking. Convinced that this was the road to success, they happily assumed the risks associated with such a daring move. That is how development takes place in the Cholqui Valley sector of the Maipo Valley, which all of the climatological analyses of the Department of Agriculture of the Universidad Católica showed exceptional indicators, placing it among the world’s best vitivinicultural zones for growing the varieties selected by Vina Tres Palacios.
Dark, full-bodied and herbaceous with a spicy kick, Carménère found great success with its move to Chile in the mid-19th century. However, the variety went a bit undercover until 1994 when many plantings previously thought to be Merlot, were profiled as Carménère. Somm Secret— Carménère is both a progeny and a great-grandchild of the similarly flavored Cabernet Franc.
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.