飲酒過量有礙身體健康，未成年請勿飲酒！
Drinking too much is not good to your healthy, and you can not drink unless you are adult.
這支酒是在 Trader Joe's 以 $4.xx (含稅)買的，是智利的 Errázuriz Ovalle Viñedos (Errazuriz Ovalle Vineyar, EOV)的 Carménère(Carmenere) 紅酒，我花了不少時間想找這支酒的資料，但是或許他是該酒莊的二軍酒，所以一直都找不到，連2007年份的 Carménère 的品酒記錄在網路上也幾乎沒有。但是，卻意外找到了一些關於 EOV 的有趣故事。所以，在開始介紹這支酒之前，先來說說這個酒莊的故事吧。
如果用 Errázuriz 去拜Google大神，應該會找到 Errázuriz Winery，但是這並不是這支酒的出產酒商 EOV。Errázuriz 家族在智利從事釀酒已經有百年以上的歷史，Mr. Alejandro Chadwick Ortúzar 和 Ms. Leonor Errázuriz Echazarret 婚後在1914年生下 Alfonso Chadwick Errázuriz，這位 Alfonso Chadwick 長大之後不僅進入Errázuriz家族企業從事釀酒工作，同時還是傑出的馬球選手，入選過多次國家代表隊。在1983年，Alfonso Chadwick 買下 Errázuriz Winery，正式掌權整個酒莊的運作，而當他去世之後就交由他的兒子 Eduardo 管理。
唔，聽起來好像是個外戚奪權的故事 XD。但 Errázuriz 家族裡頭想搞葡萄酒事業的還是大有人在，Francisco Errázuriz在1992年成立了EOV，同時經營得有聲有色，規模還比原本的 Errázuriz Winery 更大，除了葡萄酒之外還有採礦、零售、農產品等生意。4000公頃的葡萄園，也讓 EOV 成為智利第二大的葡萄酒莊(第一的是有4500公頃的 Concha y Toro Winery)。(更多關於EOV可以參考這邊)
而 EOV 為了要避免他們的酒和 Errázuriz Winery 混淆，所以掛上了許多品牌，而 Panilonco 也是其中之一。不過說真的，要避免消費者混淆的話，那還用 Errázuriz Ovalle Viñedos 這種公司名稱幹嘛？ 😛
好吧，回過頭來說這隻Carménère。Carménère據信為法國最早拿來釀製葡萄酒的六種葡萄之一(其他五種為 Cabernet sauvignon, Cabernet franc, Merlot, Malbec 和 Petit verdot)，其名稱來自 crimson (暗紅色) 這個字彙。而確實酒色相當的深濃，同時酒香也很厚實，一瞬間會令人誤認為是不是 Cabernet Sauvignon。仔細聞過之後會發現黑醋栗的香氣裡頭帶有煙燻與皮革的味道。品嚐的口感也是香味四溢，有些許薄荷味，不像Cabernet Sauvignon擁有大量的丹寧，隨意搭配一些紅色肉類來食用都表現不錯，而且這麼便宜的價格更是喝起來不會有太大壓力。
雖然 Carménère 是法國最早拿來釀製葡萄酒的品種之一，但是大多是被用來和 Merlot 混合調整口味使用，此外，現在在法國也很少種植這品種的葡萄。聽起來好像是家道中落一樣，不過 Carménère 卻在智利被發揚光大，雖然早期在智利 Carménère 仍然是被拿來跟 Merlot 混合，也因為外觀相似，所以連種植都是跟 Merlot 混著種，直到 1994 年才被學者證實兩個是不同品種，而智利政府也在 1998 年正式認定 Carménère 為單一獨立品種，Carménère 才開始成為智利葡萄酒的顯學之一，直到今日在智利 Carménère 的種植面積已經約有 4000公頃。
I bought this wine from Trader Joe's with $4.xx(tax included). This Carménère(Carmenere) grapes red wine wasmade by Errázuriz Ovalle Viñedos (Errazuriz Ovalle Vineyar, EOV). However, maybe it is a "second wine" of EOV, so almost nothing about it can be found after hours of Internet surffing. Moreover, I can only find some tasting notes about 2005 and 2006, so this article may be the first tasting note about 2007 Carménère. Anyway, I still found some interesting stories about EOV, let's enjoy them before the tasting note.
If you use "Errázuriz" to initialize a Google search, the 1st result should be Errázuriz Winery, but this is not EOV -- the winery made this red wine. Errázuriz family made wine in Chile for more thant 100 years. In 1914, Mr. Alejandro Chadwick Ortúzar and Ms. Leonor Errázuriz Echazarret had their son, Alfonso Chadwick Errázuriz. Alfonso Chadwick joined Errázuriz family cooperation to learn wine making, and he was also a outstanding Polo player and was in the Chile national Polo team for many times. In 1983, Alfonso Chadwick bought Errázuriz Winery and had the all control of it. After his past, his son, Edurado, managed the whole winery.
However, there was someone in Errázuriz family interesting in wine industry. In 1992, Francisco Errázuriz founded EOV which is a conglomerate. Besides of wine making and selling, EOV also covers mining, retail supermarket, agriculture, etc. EOV is much larger than the old Errázuriz Winery. The 4000 hectares vineyards make EOV to be the 2nd largest wine makeing company. (The 1st one is Concha y Toro Winery which has 4500 hectares vineyards)。(Here for more information about EOV)
The wines made by EOV have various brand name, and the reason is EOV hope their consumers are not messed up their wines with the wines from Errázuriz Winery, and Panilonco is one of EOV's brand names. However, I think that is weird, if EOV really hope their consumers are not messed up, they should not use the name, Errázuriz Ovalle Viñedos. 😛
OK, let's back to this Carménère. According to some reports, Carménère is one of the six grape varieties used for wine manking in the early age in French. And the five others are Cabernet sauvignon, Cabernet franc, Merlot, Malbec and Petit verdot. The name, Carménère, comes from "crimson", which means deep red color. And the color of this Carménère is really crimson, and the aromas is very concentrated, that make me ponder it is a Cabernet Sauvignon or not. If you smell carefully, you can find hints of smoky and leather besides of black currant. The palate is good with some mint. The tannins are not as dense as a Cabernet Sauvignon. I had tried it with some red meat dishes, and they both tastes good. And, the price is not expensive, so you can drink it at ease.
Although in the early age Carménère is one variety grape for wine making in French, in most cases, it was used to blend with Merlot. Nowadays, Carménère is grown less in French. Instead, the most important region of Carménère now is Chile. In the early age in Chile, Carménère was also used for blending, and it was usually grown with Merlot because of their similar appearance. Till 1994, Carménère is proved as a different grapt to Merlot. After 1998, Chile officially recognised Carménère as a single grape variety, then Carménère gradually became a main red wine in Chile. There are about 4000 hectares Carménère farms in Chile now.