Monday, December 8, 2008

2005 Viña Santa Rita Carménère 120

Type- Red
Producer- Viña Santa Rita
Variety- Carménère
Designation- 120
Country- Chile
Region- Central Valley
Appellation- Rapel Valley
Price- $5.99



If the Little Wooden Guy is running away you should too.

It's Wine Blogging Wednesday again, and WBW#52 comes from Cheap Wine Ratings, and the subject is Value Reds from Chile. Is this a "value red"? Well, it's $5.99, but it also isn't worth $5.99, or $4.99, or $3.99, or even $0.99. Value? Perhaps not.

Night One

The nose has some chocolate, some Slim Jim, loads of green- tomato leaves and green bell pepper. Smoked meat, blackberries and green flavors of arugula and tobacco leaves. Not much of a mid-palate. Finish is short.

After an hour or two more fruit is evident on the nose, mostly blueberry and some blackberry.

Night Two

The nose has green peppers, creosote and cherries. The palate, well, let's just say "not good."

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry you found a bad one, but there are tons of great wines out there from Chile. Oh well, better luck on your next bottle.

Joe Roberts said...

You've got a knack for under-performing vino, don't you?

One has to wonder if at this point it's bad luck, or bad karma...?

;-)

Cheers!

dhonig said...

A knack? I don't think so. Perhaps, instead, this merely reflects how unusual it is for people to blog negative reviews, as well as positive ones. Let's see, shall we? Of the last wines reviewed, we have:

2005 Viña Santa Rita Carménère 120 - negative review

2005 Jean-Pierre Robinot (L'Opera des Vins) Coteaux du Loir Vin de Table Francais Concerto - positive review

Casa Lapostolle Cabernet Sauvignon "Alexandre" - positive review

Allegrini Palazzo della Torre - positive review

Louis Jadot Pommard 2005 - medium review

Louis Jadot Pommard 2006 - negative review

Elyse "Morisoli" Cabernet Sauvignon - positive review

Page Wine Cellars Proprietary Red - positive review

Four Graces Pinot Noir - medium review

I Giusti & Zanza Nemorino Rosso Toscana IGT - negative review

2006 Shirvington Shiraz - positive review

N.V. Mumm Napa Pinot Noir Blanc de Noirs - positive review

2005 Redline Pinot Noir Cedar Lane Vineyard - positive review

2006 Georges Dubœuf Pouilly-Fuissé - positive review

2005 Villa Maria Sauvignon Blanc Clifford Bay Reserve - negative review

2001 Dow Porto Late Bottled Vintage - positive review

Chocolate Stout and Raspberry Lambic Float - positive review

Sonoma Vineyards Syrah 2007 - positive review

Humanitas Cabernet Sauvignon Paso Robles 2006 - positive review

So on the front page there are 14 positive review, 2 medium reviews, and four negative reviews. I like 70% of the wines I try, find another 10% average, and don't like 20%. Do you really love more than 70-75% of all the wines you try?

Anonymous said...

Sorry that one was a clunker. It's interesting that lots of other folks are having Carmenere this month as well.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for post. I, for one, appreciate the negative reviews as it helps me know what to avoid.

Pablo Lastorta said...

Chile has been more miss than hit on my end! Maybe it's because of the border-to-border rivalry I have with them, and my hometown Malbecs have way more hits than miss at this price point.

Can't seem to become a fan of Chilean Wines. Sorry! You're right though Dhonig, negative reviews are needed and serve its purpose. Hopefully the negative reviews stay on the west side of the Andes ;-)

Salud!

Pablo
http://malbecmadness.blogspot.com