Osprey's Dominion Vineyards 2007 Carmenere

By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor

Carmenere on Long Island? Yes, really.

This is Long Island's first carmenere, and as far as I know, the only carmenere being made on the East Coast (thought it seems like it might do well in Virginia, so maybe there is some there too.)

I've had several carmeneres from Chile, enjoying the relatively few elegant ones that don't have huge extract, but I admittedly know very little about the grape.

According to Wikipedia:

Carménère grape is a wine grape variety originally planted in the Médoc region of Bordeaux, France, where it was used to produce deep red wines and occasionally used for blending purposes in the same manner as Petit Verdot.

A member of the Cabernet family of grapes, the name "Carménère" originates from the French word for crimson (carmin) which refers to the brilliant crimson colour of the autumn foliage prior to leaf-fall. The grape is also known as Grande Vidure, a historic Bordeaux synonym, although current European Union regulations prohibit Chilean imports under this name into the European Union. Along with Cabernet sauvignon, Cabernet franc, Merlot, Malbec and Petit verdot, Carménère is considered part of the original six red grapes of Bordeaux, France.

Now rarely found in France, the world's largest area planted with this variety is in Chile in South America, with more than 4,000 hectares (2006) cultivated in the Central Valley. As such, Chile produces the vast majority of Carménère wines available today and as the Chilean wine industry grows, more experimentation is being carried out on Carménère's potential as a blending grape, especially with Cabernet Sauvignon.

Given the success growers and winemakers have had with the other Bordeaux varieties (even cabernet sauvignon planted in the right places in the right years) it's maybe a bit surprising that this is the first carmenere here, but before I tasted it, I still wondered if they'd be able to ripen this grape fully to minimize the bell pepper flavors that can come from under-ripe grapes (sound familiar?).

Maybe they have it planted in a spot in their vineyard where reds ripen particularly well, or maybe it's just because this wine came from the hot, dry 2007 season, but this wine shows none of that green pepper character. In fact, this wine almost seems overripe in some of it's aromas and flavors.

Ripe, almost port-like aromas of dried cherry, fig and sweet red cherry are layered with those of Chinese five spice, cedar and green peppercorns.

Juicy on the palate with medium-soft tannins, rich cherry fruit, more five spice, toasty oak and clove mingle with a bit of smoke and sweet herbs. The dried fruit and fig character comes back on a medium finish.

A fine first effort, I'm curious to taste the 2008 and 2009 editions of this. I'm curious how the grape does in cooler, more typical growing seasons. 

This wine is scheduled to be released today in the tasting room, but I haven't been able to track down how much they are selling it for.

Producer: Osprey’s Dominion Vineyards
ABV: 12%
Price: NA*
Rating: 84

(Ratings Guide)

Comments

[Bob Clinton]

Great grape. Will be interesting to see how this LI version evolves over time. Asimov did a good review of Carmenere in the NYT back in Oct. 07. My personal favorite is the MontGras - very affordibly priced, and generally available through local distributors. Of course, Montes' Purple Angel has received a lot of attention, but is pricey.

[Tom Mansell]

Carmenere has one the highest levels of MPs of any grape, even in Chile. You might say that bell pepper is part of the varietal character.

http://www.ajevonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/58/4/462

[Lenn Thompson]

Bob: Thanks for the comment...glad to know that you're still reading.

Tom: I had a feeling I'd hear from you on this. I guess we can assume there was some serious leaf-pulling here to help get rid of those MPs. I'm not saying that there wasn't ANY green here, but it was of the green peppercorn and herb variety rather than bell pepper or even jalapeno.

[Tom Mansell]

Greenness was once considered part of the varietal character of Merlot as well. How else would acres of Carmenere in Chile be confused for Merlot until 1993?

[Dan Johnson]

It's cool to see producers making an effort to make something unique like that. Thanks for reviewing the wine!

[Rodrigo]

yes the 3-alquil-2-metoxipirazinas (MPs)is a tipical caracter of Carmenere, but many wineries in Chile, Working with presision viticulture in
some terroirs and winemaking technology may decrease appropriate enough flavorings MPs..

[ProArticlesDaily]

Great wine indeed!

http://proarticlesdaily.com

[Adam Suprenant]

Lenn: Thanks for the review in NYCR and I'd like to announce to your readers that the ODV Carmenere has just won gold in the 2010 Taster's Guild International Wine Competition. Retail Price: $24

[Wine-Know]

Nice to see Carmenere gaining wider cultivation!