Wine of the Week: Concha y Toro Casillero del Diablo Carmenere

Wine: Concha y Toro Casillero del Diablo Carmenere

Grape: Carmenere

Region: Central Valley, Chile

Vintage: 2013

Price: $8.99

Availability: All wine retailers

In the glass: Casillero del Diablo Carmenere is a deep dense blackish-red color with an opaque core going out into a fine violet-crimson to slightly pinkish rim definition with medium-high viscosity.

On the nose: There are oodles of interesting notes of crushed earthy black fruits with underlying spice elements, peppery crushed blackberries, black truffle, tobacco leaf, phenolic compounds, earthy minerals, licorice root, herbs, tar and light wood components.

On the palate: This wine has an immediate pleasant sweetish peppery mouth-feel with concentrated wild cherries, spice-laced huckleberry sauce and spicy blackberries, then a massive phenol-laden structure, earthy minerals and slight oak references. The midpalate is highly impacted by the liqueurlike cherry and elderberry fruit with notes of sloe fruit, herbs and earthy minerals and then a solid finish sets in for 20-plus seconds with yet more licorice root, star anise and earthy rustic wood.

Odds and ends: I have featured Concha y Toro in this column before. The company keeps popping up in tastings, because they have a massive portfolio that covers all of Chilean winemaking at its best and they are the No. 1 imported brand portfolio in the United States. One of their great values is the line called Casillero del Diablo, or the Devil’s Cellar. It is made from one of the greatest successes in varietal transplantation ever.

When the French brought over their failing carmenere from Bordeaux and planted it in Chile, it proved amazingly successful and is now the national grape of Chile. This “entry-level” wine gives a nice impression of the quality they can achieve with the carmenere grape.

I would be remiss not to mention the Marques de Casa Concha cabernet also made there, a tremendous wine to look for after you’ve tried this one. Try this Casillero del Diablo with a grilled pepper-rubbed steak. Drink it now through 2017.

Gil Lempert-Schwarz’s wine column appears on Wednesdays. Write him at P.O. Box 50749, Henderson, NV 89106-0749, or email him at gil@winevegas.com