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Vina CarmenSomething Old and Something NewMadelyn Miller
Ricardo Claro purchased the brand in 1985, with a goal to create world class wines. A skillful team was chosen in 1993 and the first harvest was produced, releasing 70,000 cases for export. Over the past seven years the wines of Carmen have received accolades and sales have climbed steadily throughout more than 40 countries in the world. The United States, one of the first export markets, represents 25% of total export sales.
While other Chilean wineries have followed Carmen's lead with both organic farming and embracing Grande Vidure, Carmen takes pride in standing out from the crowd. Everything at Carmen is done a little differently. The area where the grapes are received is elevated very high because gravity allows gentler handling of the grapes. To transfer the grapes, Carmen uses a conveyor belt and stations a person at the belt to hand pick the bad berries out of the lot. In addition to pneumatic presses, a rotor tank for maceration and a hydraulic press, Carmen uses a direct press in which the whole grape, with the stalk, goes up the conveyor belt and the stalk is removed inside the press. This quicker process results in a finer, more aromatic wine. In addition, there are new steel tanks for red grapes that push the skins down instead of up, and Carmen has designed a tool called an Aspersores to extract juice from the skin of red grapes. They had the tool specially built for use on the Carmen line. Viņa Carmen produces 16 wines in 5 product lines that are available in the U.S. These include the Classics-Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot ($7.99); the Reserve line-Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Syrah/Cabernet Sauvignon, Grande Vidure/Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc ($11.99 - $16.99); Winemaker's Reserve Chardonnay and Reserve Red ($20 - $40); the Nativa Wines, made from organically grown grapes-Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon ($14.99- $16.99) and 1997 Gold Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon ($65.00). Imported by W.J. Deutsch & Sons, Ltd., Carmen wines are available nationwide. |
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Viņa
Carmen, the oldest of the Chilean wine brands, was founded in 1850.Today, just
one hour from the bustling city of Santiago, the Carmen winery has launched a
new generation of Chilean wines. And their organic wines are truly amazing.
At
Carmen Vineyards 50% of the grapes used are estate grown. There are 150 hectares
planted in Maipo, 125 hectares in Casablanca, 80 hectares in Apalta and
150 hectares in Rapel. The Carmen team firmly believes in terroir and their
philosophy is 'to make a difference in the wine through viticulture'. Carmen
takes pride in being pioneers in both viticulture and in winemaking in
Chile. They are the first winery in the country to cultivate their grapes organically
and now have an experimental vineyard located in Maipo. The first
organic grapes produced from this vineyard for the Nativa label were harvested
in 1998. The winery is also a trailblazer in Grande Vidure (also called
Carmenere) a variety that originated in Bordeaux, but is now no longer
cultivated in France.