Koyle Royale Carmenere 2009 | Colchagua, Chile
Looking at the name of this wine, for some reason I can’t get the image of a deck of cards out of my head.
This wine has a really smokey, green, and mineral nose with notes of cloves, tobacco, bell pepper, earth, and something stony/mineral that I can’t quite place — slate, if slate has a smell? Flint? Concrete? Can’t really put my finger on it, but it’s the smell of a freshly built stone cellar. In the mouth there is a rush of rich, luscious raspberry, blueberry, and boysenberry upfront, toning down in the midpalate before finishing with those same red- and blue-berry notes along with hints of clove and spice. Ample acidity and tannins, along with hot alcohol, all make an appearance simultaneously at the tail end of the finish. Enjoyable on its own, much better with food. I recommend it with a pot roast, stew, and gamey fowl such as turkey.
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Other wine blog reviews for Koyle Royale Carmenere can be found at The Reverse Wine Snob, Drinkhacker, Dallas Wine Chick, Chilean-Wine, The Good Wine Guru, and The Yum List.
Disclosure: I received this wine as a press sample
