Apaltagua Carmenère

About a year ago, I got on a brief carmenère kick. I didn't go overboard, tried maybe 8-9 in the under $15 range, all from Chile. My favorite is made by Apaltagua.

I got this on a recommendation from a guy at Fox and Obel, and I'll be damned if this isn't a very fine wine and a very fine value.

It's got nice fruit, good balance, and most interestingly, a nose largely characterized by green chilies. And, pleasantly, like stone or wet cement...a characterful minerality. It also has a subtlety that belies its 14% alcohol content.

When we we moved out of Chicago, I rationalized that, with no Sam's or Binny's in the KC area, I ought to stock up on wines at a good price, and I've been vindicated in the sense that there's less good wine here at $5.99 a bottle than in Chicago, which is to say, so far, none.

Mostly, it was a good chance to stock up, and hey! let's just roll it into the new mortgage. So maybe there were some not quite as cheap wines in there too.

Anyway, a couple bottles of Apaltagua made their way into the stash, and lo and behold, the stuff's at every corner liquor store here. Seriously, I started seeing it, and haven't stopped. The great thing is, it's still good.

So this past weekend, we hosted another couple for dinner and made some stacked enchiladas from Robb Walsh's Tex-Mex Cookbook (a great but somewhat confusing recipe that I've never precisely followed). Normally, I drink beer with this sort of food. Or margaritas. I had a pink Rioja in the fridge that I might have gone with. Red wine is at the low end of my Tex-Mex drinking totem pole. But this worked...it was really a nice wine with some mildly spicy green chili enchiladas.

Now, I was already a couple bourbons and a maragarita and a Negro Modelo in by this point (give or take), so I tried it again with some leftovers. Happily, it still worked. I still might take a Modelo Especial 7 times out of ten, but the more I think about it, I might not. Wine with Tex-Mex...why not?

Bias alert: the US importer of the Apaltagua label is a good friend.

While the basic Apaltagua carmenere has been a good wine at a good price, I've found their two higher-end offerings called Envero and Grial to be so much superior that they represent even better value than the basic bottling.

I had the 2003 Grial with dinner last night...explosive aromas of blackcurrants, leather, mint, and violets, and a long, LONG moderately tannic finish. It could stand its own against 2003 Bordeaux costing upwards of $150, but it cost $35-40 at most wine shops. A spectacular match with grilled marinated flank steak, and roasted green beans and parsnips.

Saying this wine could stand its own against 2003 Bordeaux (ANY Bordeaux, at least that I tried) is like doing a comparison to box wine!

I went to a Binny's 2003 Bordeaux tasting last month and have to say that this is one of the worst vintages I've ever sampled from that region, regardless of price.
I don't make this comment at the expense of your praise of 2003 Grial (never had it) but more to warn our richer LTHforum winebuying friends to save their money.

Straight across the board, a horrible vintage.

While I would agree that the 2003 vintage in Bordeaux is unusual (and quite frankly not among my personal favorites), your opinion of the vintage as a whole flies in the face of every major wine reviewer on the planet. Even British reviewers like Clive Coates and Jancis Robinson had glowing reviews for several Medocs...and the "big three" of James Suckling, Robert Parker, and Steven Tanzer consider 2003 among the greatest Bordeaux vintages of the past 50 years.

Perhaps you had a bad palate day? Perhaps Binny's had a few shocky and/or abused bottles? Perhaps Binny's chose crappy wines for the tasting?

Also note that I never compared the 2003 Apaltagua Grial style-wise to anything, which I guess I must now do. It is similar style-wise to the 2000 Peby-Faugeres, though it has less tannin and more earthiness.

I'm glad to hear that, as that was next on my list. The local store here has all three in stock, and the Envero is only $15 or so. The Grial, at $40, may have to wait a little longer, but I'll be sure to give it a shot.

Oh, and on Bordeaux 2003, I found this to be a rather humorous exchange highlighting the variability of opinion on the vintage (albeit a single example):

http://www.decanter.com/news/48406.html

Here's a little more on the apparent inconsistency, already evidenced in the above two posts;

http://www.decanter.com/news/48350.html

I don't know from Bordeaux, but I'll report on the Envero shortly.

[quote=quote]I had the 2003 Grial with dinner last night...explosive aromas of blackcurrants, leather, mint, and violets, and a long, LONG moderately tannic finish. It could stand its own against 2003 Bordeaux costing upwards of $150, but it cost $35-40 at most wine shops.