Our Thursday night tasting theme this week was Chilean wines by Santa Ema Vineyards. Santa Ema offers a wide selection of wines from various parts of Chile. We reviewed several of their wines back in October so you may want to look back and see the differences in the vintages. Overall they were pretty good and there was one surprise in the mix.
2010 Santa Ema Sauvignon Blanc – Very light straw color. Green apples and melon on the nose. Round in the mouth with a lot of acid and a hint of sweetness. The flavor was like the nose, green apple and melon, not even a hint of grassiness. Really nice summer backyard wine.
2008 Santa Ema Barrel Select 60/40 Reserve – A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot it had a dark ruby color. The nose was dark fruit with bell pepper. There were big tannins and good acidity, nicely balanced. There was dark fruit, a little bell pepper and chocolate flavors. The finish was moderate in length (13.5 alc.).
2008 Barrel Select Carmenere – A very dark ruby color with a closed nose, just a hint of mint. There was dark fruit, a hint of bell pepper and tobacco in the flavor. Moderate tannins and nice acidity and a moderate to long finish (14% alc.). This was very nice. I have been drinking this Carmenere for several years. Sometimes it has a lot of bell pepper which I don’t care for but this year it has just the right amount.
2009 Santa Ema Catalina – This blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenere and Cabernet Franc has a very dark garnet color. The nose was dark ripe fruit. The flavors were also ripe dark fruit, vanilla and a little vegetal. Plenty of acid and nice light tannins with a medium length finish. Everything was very well integrated and I think a lot of people will like it. The fruit was just a little too ripe for me, though.
2009 Cabernet Sauvignon Selected Terroir – This was a surprise! The nose hit you with wet newspaper, definitely corked. I tasted it anyway just for experience and there was some volatile acidity but the flavors weren’t too bad. We opened another bottle so we could taste the real thing. The second bottle was fine. Nice dark fruit nose, light smooth tannins and good acid. Blueberries and other fruit in the flavor. Moderate length finish.
2007 Amplus Cabernet Sauvignon – A dark ruby color, nice nose of dark fruit. Light tannins, lots of acid and nice dark fruit, vanilla, cedar and berries in the mouth. Medium length finish. The description sounds pretty good but I just wasn’t thrilled with this wine. Nothing wrong with it, just didn’t excite me.
