Christian Lanz founded the Carmen winery in 1850, naming it after his beloved wife, Carmen. In the early years, it led a relatively unassuming existence. This changed when it was acquired by the Claro family. Significant investments were made, resulting in the creation of one of Chile's most modern wineries. Built at the foot of the Andes, the new cellars were constructed so that all wine movement occurred solely by gravity. This allowed the winery to avoid the use of pumps, a method that could damage the wine and reduce its quality.
Merlot has long been a popular wine, and Carmen has worked hard to bring a perfect Merlot to market. Especially in this case, the fruit is crucial for giving the wine character, and the fruit is therefore the essence of this Merlot. The grapes for this powerful red wine are harvested by hand and undergo a cold maceration at two degrees Celsius for six days. This gives the wine abundant color and beautiful fruit notes. This method can only be used if the grapes are perfectly ripe and healthy. And that's precisely the case in Carmen's vineyards. Fermentation at a temperature of 25 degrees Celsius brings out the fruit in the wine even more. Thirty percent of the wine is aged for six months in French and American oak barrels. This gives this Insigne Merlot an almost unobtrusive vanilla note. It is a delicious Merlot, very intense and convincing in character.
On the nose, we discovered aromas of chocolate and pepper, ripe plum fruit, and a hint of coffee, cinnamon, and black olives in this Chilean. Truly irresistible and refined, its beautiful, soft flavors complete the whole. It's no wonder this Carmen Insigne Merlot is so popular in the hospitality industry. Seductive and soft—those are the words we'd like to conclude with.
