Sometimes chocolate doesn't even fix it.....

 

I had a horrible revelation the other day.  I realized that I didn't have a single bottle of "everyday" wine in my house. I have about 40 bottles of wines that I am "saving" that are way too expensive and special to just open up and drink on any given random day of the week.

 

I began to panic.

 

On my way home that night I stopped at Safeway and ended up buying 6 bottles under, or around, $20 and getting a 10% discount (I love a good deal).

 

A few of the wines I had tried before and know I like and a few were new to me and I wanted to give them a try.

 

One of the new ones was a Carmenere from Chile.

 

 

 

What did I know about this wine? Not much.

 

1. I like the way the word "Carmenere" sounds when I say it. (carmen-yair)

2. I've had a few Chilean Carmeneres before and enjoyed them. Primus being one.

3. I know Carmenere is a grape with the world's largest area planted in Chile.

 

 

 

 

What do I know now after drinking this Carmenere?

 

1.  It is a dark red, almost purple, enchanting color.

2.  It has a nose of ripe plum, spice and coffee.

3. It has tastes of leather, blackberry and cocoa.

4. It has a very dry and harsh aftertaste which I did not enjoy.

5. After aerating a glass, it became fruitier but still not smooth.

6. It definitely is a food wine.

 

7. The taste improved with pulled pork BBQ. I was ready to write this wine off until BBQ changed the taste completely and made it drinkable.

 

 

8.  Chocolate cake helped me tolerate a second glass but I still wouldn't call it good.

 

9. Oddly enough, when I ate a piece of chocolate cake with the wine, I got an overwhelmingly strong smell of basil and cilantro. Now, that was bizarre! I tried it again and sure enough, no doubt it was basil and cilantro. That's a first!

 

10.  While I have no desire to ever buy this wine again, I have no regrets. A big part of the wine world is trying new ones so you can find out what you like and don't like! It didn't turn me off to Carmeneres; just this particular one.

 

 

 

 "Don't fear failure so much that you refuse to try new things.

The saddest summary of a life contains three descriptions:

could have, might have, and should have."

- Anonymous