At $33, I’m pushing my luck here with the “bargain” theme, but few wines can change your mind dramatically about a so-called “workhorse” grape from Southern Europe that is now producing show-stopping results in Chile. Carignan is known as Carignane in the USA, Carignano in Italy and Cariñena in Spain, but now that we’ve got that out of the way, the real news is that this offers marvelous black raspberry and red currant fruit interwoven with a host of savory nuances. Will it be the next Malbec?
Undurraga, Maule Valley (Chile) Carignan 2013
By Michael Franz