June 17, 2011

Carmen Shiraz 2008

Not much background on this wine. I have no idea how it landed in our wine rack. I can't find an image of the label on the internet. The winery website doesn't even list it. So we're flying blind here. All I know is it's a shiraz from Maipo valley in Chile.

A little acidic right out of the bottle, but not too shabby. A very nice inky purple colour, with a fairly hot alcoholey nose. Now that it's been out to play for a few minutes the wine is rounding out a bit and mellowing nicely. I'm getting some plum and leather smells/tastes. The back label mentions blueberry, and I'll agree with that. Good structure if a bit astringent, this would probably match with sweet Italian sausage, or rich chocolate cake, or the usual suspects. If it's in the price range I think it is, this is not a bad value at all. A good, solid, balanced shiraz that's not too "big" but is quite drinkable with food or on its own.

88 points. Guessing this is about $12 somewhere.