2011 Viu Manent Carmenere Reserva, Colchagua Valley, Chile

Chile! The country that's most famous for its Cabernets! Though belonging to the cabernet family, there's another type of grape which is even better than cabernet and which has been a long time secret of the Chilean wines: The Carmenere! Every time I take a group to Chile, I recommend them to taste at least once, a bottle of Carmenere. Originally planted in the Medoc region of Bordeaux; after the pyhlloxera plague of 1867; it's now rarely found in France. It's been a secret beacuse the Chilean producers were thinking that it was a type of Merlot. Only in 1993 an enolog from France tasted it, but he wasn't convinced. He wanted to see the leaves and then took it with him to France to examine and just after that it was confirmed that this was good old Carmenere...!

This one from Viu Manent is a really good one and you can go for it in a restaurant, wouldn't disappoint you. It has an average market price of 7 Euros and with this price it has an excellent price/quality ratio!