Color – Dark red, nearly black
Nose – Blackberry, black currant, vegetal notes, alcohol
Taste – I would love to be able to rate this Carmenere right up there with my favorites because it looks good in the glass, it smells pretty darn good, and even the initial sip starts off well, but everything goes downhill from there. There is a lot more fruit in this wine than I am used to in Carmenere; I can taste blackberry, plum, dark cherry right from the initial sip, but those flavors get eviscerated in the mid-palate with a massive dose of alcohol. It is so bad that the aftertaste is one that I am only familiar with in terms of cherry flavored Nyquil. Basically after the first hints of actual flavor the wine degrades into a mouthful of fruit flavored alcohol. You can still catch tinges of brown sugar and cut grass, but they are completely trampled by a long, Long, LONG aftertaste of alcohol. The tannins in this wine might be nice and firm or they might be flabby and flat, I honestly couldn’t tell you because I can’t find them. The only thing my palate can detect after the second sip is alcohol. I tried this over a period of five days and the wine didn’t get any better after decanting or being consumed at higher or lower temperatures. It is a fairly heavy bodied wine and that makes it even harder to slug down.
Overall, I would say pass on this train wreck of a 10 dollar wine. It is not a good QPR, it is a terrible QPR. This wine is overbearingly alcohol forward and not a wine at all but closer to a cough syrup in flavor and nearly in texture. The wine is “heavy” on the tongue and with the predominant flavor of alcohol-cherry-chemicals it brings memories of taking Nyquil when I had the flu growing up. If that is your idea of a good red wine then this one is for you. For everyone else, dump this down the toilet and get ANY OTHER CARMENERE IN THE WORLD (that’s how bad this wine is).
Vina Falernia Wines
Thank you--you have saved me from making a $10 mistake at Costco. OK, for wine $10 is not so bad, but cough syrup/alcohol burn is DNPIM (do not put in mouth) territory.
ReplyDeleteHopefully I didn't get a bad bottle, but in all honesty this just seem way too overbearing for a wine and just pretty off in the balance of flavor/alcohol/tannin department. Costco has a lot of winners for $10 a bottle, this one just isn't it. Happy to have helped.
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I love this wine, and no, we are not Nyquil people! I suggest people try a bottle, then make their own decisions.
ReplyDeleteYou are out of your mind. This is a very nice wine. Long after taste of alcohol? Wonderful fruit flavors. Give it try.
ReplyDeleteThe reviewer is a crock. This is an excellent, excellent wine, very heavy on the nose but great flavor. Will be making a trip to Costco if that is where we can find it in Houston. And the price is a real attraction. Wife and I continue to locate some of the "best $10 wines", and this one goes on the list.
ReplyDeletenbh
Seems the majority of people like this wine. I guess my palate didn't appreciate it, or possibly I bought the wrong vintage. I didn't mean to alienate anyone or push you into throwing mud at myself just because I don't like the same wines that you do. Hopefully you can disagree with me without making it personal. I appreciate the feedback both negative and positive. Since so many of you have expressed views contrary to mine on this wine I will review another bottle. If any of you would like to give me an idea on the best vintage I would appreciate it.
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