Santa Carolina Dry Farmed Carignan 2008

Some of the most exciting flavours I've ever found in a glass have been thanks to Carignan, a Spanish variety which was also, for a time, the most widely planted grape in France.

It was, of course, popular because of the large yields it offered, but it's a truism in wine that quantity and quality are generally in inverse proportion, and tonight's wine, I'm fairly sure, comes from low yielding vines.

Santa Carolina don't give much away on their website, but the vines are said to be 80 years old, and - most unusually for Chile, they are not irrigated, two factors which would lead to smaller crops.

And the wine looks, smells & tastes very concentrated. Initially appearing black, a close examination of the rim shows it to be deepest ruby, and it has legs like a dessert wine.

The aromas are lush and super-concentrated, with black plums and smooth woody spices. There's also a thread of vegetal green, and I found a wee touch of black pepper.

The palate is complex. The attack is sweet, the middle is dry, and the finish is sweet again. Lots of black fruits - more bramble than plum I should say - and creamy flavours. A second mouthful reveals bitter chocolate and dried cherry notes. Peppery notes return in the finish.

While I was tasting this wine I also had a glass of Parducci Mendocino County Zinfandel 2007 (although I wasn't really comparing them - that wouldn't be very fair, since the Zin was half the price of the Carignan).

I tried both as a match for a Raclette salad*. While the Zinfandel was fine, the Carignan was fantastic: the cheese was lifted and less sticky, and the wine seemed to get more red.

Santa Carolina Dry Farmed Carignan 2008, altogether altogether an excellent wine, if a couple of years young for my taste, 3+ -4.

*I know, I know, Pinot Gris.

Chile in Helensburgh

Off to a formal tasting for a very knowledgeable group, in the grand surroundings of the Royal Northern and Clyde Yacht Club.

It became apparent early on that they were really quite traditional in their tastes, falling into two camps, Classic French and Beefy Oz, with only one kindly soul declaring themselves in favour of the Terra Andina Carmenère Rosé, which is a shame, for it is a lovely wine really, refreshingly sharp, water-light, and showing the traditional strawbs-n-cream flavours.

The other Carmenère of the evening was from the De Martino Legado range, and red of hue rather than pink. It is such a Chilean wine, with an attractive green herb streak running under the sweet fruit and cedary woodiness. This was the leader in the Classic French camp.

The Beefy Oz brigade were made happy by the pouring of the Peñalolen Cabernet, from Quebrada de Macúl, which this year seems softer than previously, as if 2007, bruited by the Chileans as a perfect Cabernet year, was perhaps too kind to the Peñalolen grapes. Does it make sense to talk about a languid Cabernet?

Both groups enjoyed the Ocio Pinot Noir, the cream of the quintessence of Cono Sur Pinot Noir from Casablanca. The Beefy squad because of the sheer concentration to be found in the wine, and the Francophiles because it is clearly a classy, complex wine, well worth storing for the next ten years. And I enjoyed it because it has that shiny, expensive-marine-varnish aroma. A rare perfume, but always worth seeking out, oh yeah.

TN: Terra Andina Altos Carmenère / Carignan 07

As I may have mentioned before, Carignan is nectar to me, so I was excited to see this bottle. The Terra Andina Syrah and Sauvignon Blanc have gone down well with customers, and I rather rate them myself. High expectations then.

The first thing that hits your nostrils is intense blackcurrant, so much so that one is looking for Cabernet on the label, but then comes a herbaceous note, not the green-ness so common in Chilean wine, but rather some savoury herbs. The palate is intense, concentrated and very acid, and finishes slightly sticky.

After twenty-four hours of ventilation, the acidity has calmed down somewhat. Now there is a delicious aroma of coffee cake, and the metallic or bloody element which was there has strengthened. Add in notes of green tea and smoke, and you have a delightful and complex wine. It is definitely too young, except perhaps as a half-time refreshment for rugby players, if you see what I mean, but the rest of us can buy three, put two away for a couple of years, open the other and then drink it the day after tomorrow. Yum. Terra Andina 'Altos' Carmenère / Carignan 07: excellent (rugby players), very very good (the rest of us), 3++-4.

Tea! And Fruit! But Mainly Tea!

And I don't particularly mean that the wine smells tannic. Rather it has the fragrance of tea, some sort of dark leafiness. Then there is some more leafiness, of the tobacco sort, and then interestingly, braised red cabbage, and then finally a bit of smoke.

By contrast the palate has lots of bright fruit, and indeed it isn't all that tannic. It's fresh and medium bodied (viz, that means light for a Malbec), and really rather tasty.

My good friend TallAsAVan, Malbecista Supremo, observes that Malbec always says blue fruit to him, which I don't find. What I do often find is fishy. I've never even seen one, but that sort of dried fish called Bombay Duck (Why is it called Bombay Duck? It's been around too long to blame the name on Google Translate. Perhaps it's another case of Your Finger You Fool?) often pops into my head on tasting the bigger, more full bodied kinds of Malbec.

So it is an interesting change to find this lighter example of the grape. Well done chaps.

(Whoops – the details: Viu Manent Malbec 2007, Colchagua Valley, Chile, 14%, £7 from Oddbins. really rather tasty = 3++)

TN: Maycas del Limari Chardonnay '07

Maycas del Limari is a modishly styled offshoot of Concha y Toro, a venture aimed at premium (how I hate that word. It reeks of marketroids doing their well-oiled duty) - a venture aimed at making posh wine in the far North of Chile. The Limari valley is hard by the Atacama desert, which means fewer pests or diseases to attack the grapes, and vast quantities of sunshine for ripening.

This particular bottle is the strongly oaked version of Limari Chardonnay, and the oak has been nicely done; clean and fresh, giving the wine a mealy or nutty scent, with notes of mandarin oranges or tangerines. It tastes dry, full and lovely, with an excellent mineral or salty endnote. And for once I am persuaded by the rear label, with its mention of 'green apple flavours', although I'd say it is rather riper than that. Concha are too polite to say so themselves, but I do think this wine is aimed squarely at Meursault, and it's pretty much on target. Excellent.