De Martino, Cruces Malbec Carmenere, Cachapoal Valley

Decanter for 20 min. Very dark hue with ruby-ink borders. Nose hyper elegant, more a perfume of a crunchy women rather than a wine one : sweat raspberry, fresh black berry jam, unperceptible sap. Mouth more structure than the nose would say : crunchy nice tannins good balance after-all. Finally medium bodied and relatively elegant for a Malbec-Carmenere blend. Not so oaky, not so technology, and fortunately respectful of the "terroir". Very recommended. Drink or keep it two more years.

Good, full-bodied Chilean wine. Solid red fruit, with leather and tobacco notes. Nicely balanced, with strong, but not overbearing tannins. Medium-long finish. Not sure I'd buy it in the $35 range, more like a $20 - $30 wine, but still a good effort. NOTE: this wine sent to me as a free sample.

violet color. Nose is floral, red fruit, some spice. red fruit, spice, complex. nice trasition through mid palate, then finish is really bright fruit then dry tannin. medium finish, medium body. a little disjointed on finish. also a little heat on the back end. 3/5

Cask sample. A field blend of cabernet sauvignon, carmenère, carignan & others from vines planted in 1959. Very attractive nose: crème de mûre and cassis. Ripe, sweet black fruit, but its extreme youth makes it a bit unapproachable at the moment. Nowhere near as ready as the same producer's bush Vine field blend from Maule.