Wine Review - 2008 Casa Silva Fifth Generation (Quinta Generacion): A Big, Bold Chilean Blend
This wine was another great pick up from a clearance sale at our local NSLC. This wine retailed for $25 and we paid $19 and believe us that is a deal. It is a blend of Carmenere, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, and Shiraz from Casa Silva Wines in Chile. We are really loving the recent Carmeneres we have been having and this one has 45% of it so we were hoping that it was a good one.
We briefly decanted it and once we poured it into a glass, the darkness of the grapes really showed up in the glass. It is a super dark wine that looks fairly thick when you look down into the glass but doesn't stick to the glass as much as we would have expected. However, while a clear wine it doesn't get that transparent when you swirl, it is just super dark.
The nose is super interesting and to quote Shannon, "Yummy!". There is a vegetal note in the nose that we might consider cumin or coriander but there is a good amount of dark fruit as well. It could be blackberry or cherry but really there is just a note of dark fruit overall with maybe some tobacco or mint in there. Complex but maybe a little muddled, though time in the decanter might work wonders on that. Overall it is 'Yummy'.
The flavours are very full bodied. The wine is big and bold and quite delicious but the tannins are slightly out of balance. The wine is 14.5% and is a little bit on the hot side. We have a feeling that the alcohol may have just taken off on the winemaker as the balance doesn't hold up for the fruit starts fine but the tannins creep up on the end. That said, it is a really flavourful wine with the Shiraz adding some nice body and the Petit Verdot adding some elegance. We like big wines but this might be a bit too big for the average wine drinker. Again, for us it is still 'Yummy'.
We briefly decanted it and once we poured it into a glass, the darkness of the grapes really showed up in the glass. It is a super dark wine that looks fairly thick when you look down into the glass but doesn't stick to the glass as much as we would have expected. However, while a clear wine it doesn't get that transparent when you swirl, it is just super dark.
The nose is super interesting and to quote Shannon, "Yummy!". There is a vegetal note in the nose that we might consider cumin or coriander but there is a good amount of dark fruit as well. It could be blackberry or cherry but really there is just a note of dark fruit overall with maybe some tobacco or mint in there. Complex but maybe a little muddled, though time in the decanter might work wonders on that. Overall it is 'Yummy'.
The flavours are very full bodied. The wine is big and bold and quite delicious but the tannins are slightly out of balance. The wine is 14.5% and is a little bit on the hot side. We have a feeling that the alcohol may have just taken off on the winemaker as the balance doesn't hold up for the fruit starts fine but the tannins creep up on the end. That said, it is a really flavourful wine with the Shiraz adding some nice body and the Petit Verdot adding some elegance. We like big wines but this might be a bit too big for the average wine drinker. Again, for us it is still 'Yummy'.
| Tasting Notes: | Score: | |
| Sight (0-5) | Extremely dark wine with a garnet colour. | 4.0 |
| Smell (0-5) | Complex wine with cumin or coriander and very dark fruit but a little muddled. | 4.0 |
| Taste (0-10) | Full bodied wine with lots of fruit flavours but high tannins and a bit hot with the higher alcohol. | 8.5 |
| Total: | 16.5 / 20 (82.5%) |
At $19 we are going on a hunt to find more of this wine. If we missed the clearance then maybe just one bottle at $25. :)
Keep on tasting!
Chris & Shannon
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