The Ventisquero Wine Estates Grey line offers some of the best wine from Chile that we have ever tasted. Our introduction to this line from single blocks of vines included four wines: 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon, 2017 Pinot Noir, 2017 Carménère and 2017 GCM blend. Above all, Ventisquero wants to pay tribute to Chilean terroirs by making wines from vineyards located throughout the country. We absolutely loved the Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir, and enjoyed the other two as well. Read on for details.
Tag Archives: Carmenere
TerraNoble Wines
We recently attended a Zoom tasting of a diverse selection of TerraNoble Winery Carménère from Chile. For the tasting, we received five samples of impressive wines, detailed below. According to winemaker Marcelo Garcia, these wines are “fresh, easy-drinking, elegant, versatile, food-friendly, quality wines.” We couldn’t agree more, as did other wine writers at the tasting, and a group of our friends who shared the experience.
Grape Clones at Red Willow Vineyard
We recently stopped by Red Willow Vineyard in the Yakima Valley and spent an incredible afternoon with the Sauer family, Washington wine royalty.
As mentioned in our previous post, one of the highlights of our visit was learning about Mike Sauer’s clone program, which he started with Master of Wine David Lake in 2005. The two Washington wine legends experimented with different cuttings certified from UC Davis Viticulture and Enology. Their clone program continues today.
Head Out to JM Cellars
If you’ve never been to JM Cellars in Woodinville, you are missing out on many wonderful Washington wines. Located on a hillside called Bramble Bump, JM Cellars offers first-class wines with a view.
Luck was with us a couple of weeks ago, when we stumbled upon an unexpected release party at JM Cellars. Winemaker/co-owner John Bigelow was pouring with a smile and our friend Paige Leighton welcomed us with hugs. And the wines – oh my.
We’ve been fans of JM Cellars signature blend Tre Fanciulli for years, so it was no surprise that we went home with the latest 2009 release. Tre Fanciulli is Italian for “three treasured lads” and named for John and Peggy Bigelow’s sons in 1999. With this new release, and the eleventh vintage, the name has been shortened to simply Tre. Love it!
Of the 11 vintages, this was the fifth we have savored. The 2009 Tre is a rich blend of 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot and 18% Syrah – simply heaven in a glass.
The JM Cellars 2009 Boushey Vineyard Syrah is also outstanding. John told us the single-vineyard grapes came from old vines near the house of viticulturalist Dick Boushey, one of Washington’s finest grapegrowers. After Matt Sauer’s Red Willow Vineyard, Boushey was the next to plant Syrah grapes in Washington state. If you like big, peppery, savory Syrah, you simply must try this one.
Another one of John’s wines that we’re particularly fond of is the 2009 Margaret’s Vineyard Estate Red. We first tried this stellar wine as a pre-release at the Taste of Tulalip last November, and couldn’t wait to taste it a few months later at its official release party.
It’s the inaugural vintage of a Bordeaux blend from vines that were planted in 2007 on the southern border of the Walla Walla appellation at the then-newly named Margaret’s Vineyard. The wine blends 37% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, 17% Cab Franc, 17% Malbec, 6% Petit Verdot and 6% Carmenere.
JM Cellars is known for elegant blended reds. And regular readers know my preference for Cab-based Bordeaux blends, so you know we took this beauty home with us!
Cheers!