Stylish and Carménère are not often used in the same sentence. But this wine shows that Carménère can, indeed, be a stylish wine. Often the problem is that Carménère exhibits an excess of herbal or grassy notes that come from an excess accumulation of a compound, pyrazines, in the grapes. By carefully managing vine growth, Sebastián Labbé, Sant Rita’s winemaker responsible for their ultra-premium bottlings, including the Floresta line, avoids the problem. This plummy Carménère, from a vineyard planted over a century ago, is ripe, yet not boisterous, with a suave texture than allows for immediate enjoyment.
93 Michael Apstein – July 23, 2025