8/10 $17.95 Viña Tarapaca Gran Reserva Carmenere (Chile). Deep inky ruby colour. Very aromatic with cherry, chocolate, smoke on the nose 👃. Extra dry and full bodied with no shortage of flavours: blackberry, plum, blueberry, leather, bell pepper, and oak. High acidity and solid tannins.
Most noticeable at first were the dark ripe berry flavours, followed by mouth-watering acidity that is sure to be detected on the sides of your tongue. The finish was interesting with an aftertaste that was dark, almost bitter (but not a turn off) and still juicy. I didn’t mind it!
I had read that some Carmeneres can have notes of green pepper. And since having read that, I could definitely taste the green peppers in this one. Now, “green peppers” sounds like an odd thing, but I can assure you it is not… I actually might kind-of dig it. However, if you are new into wine or aren’t into the dark tasting vino, this might not be your bottle.
It also really opened up over time and was very enjoyable on the second glass, with lots of complexity to offer. Would be a good bottle to bring to a tasting among friends to try something different.
young winehopper 
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