Vintage Vinos

On Feb. 11, 2026, hosted by Ken and Cathy Carey, twelve of the Vintage Vinos group gathered to taste a few Chilean wines. We elected to focus on the Carmenere grape which was originally prevalent in Bordeaux as a blending grape but thought to have been extinct. It was rediscovered in Chile in 1994 where it had been previously mistaken as Merlot. Carmenere is now considered to be the fifth most important Chilean grape.

For our study we selected three Carmenere wines for comparison, all from different growing areas in Chile:

Aconcagua Alto 2021
– 100% Carmenere from the Ancacongua Valley
Marques Casa Concha 2023
– 91.5%Carmenere, 6% Cab Sav, 2.5%Merlot blend from the Cachapoal Valley
Montes Purple Angel 2021
– 92% Carmemere, 8% Petit Verdot blend from the Colchagua Valley

An evening of enthusiastic and spirited discussion comparing the many and various tasting notes followed, both before and after some excellent food pairings. All participants are eagerly looking forward to furthering their education into the world of wine.

Submitted by Ken Carey