Wine Review – 2008 Concha Y Toro Frontera Carmenere
From: Chile
Price: $7.99 (1.5L)
After recently having a wonderful tasting experience with the “Frontera” Cab/Merlot, I thought that it was time to try another red wine from the affordable Concha Y Toro lineup. In my review of the 2008 Cab/Merlot Frontera, I said that this wine blew me away for what worked out to be less than $4 per 750ml. I found the Frontera Cab/Merlot to be very good and a real recession-buster wine. So with this past tasting experience in the back of my mind, I was really hoping that lightning would strike again with this 2008 Concha Y Toro Carmenere that was also priced at $7.99 for a 1.5 liter bottle.
Unfortunately, this red wine from the folks at Concha Y Toro came up a little short for me. It’s not a bad wine in the least: It has a terrific light to medium raspberry flavor with some soft spices that I found to be very enjoyable. However, I found it to lack some of the intense Carmenere flavors found in competitors costing a few dollars more. Because this Chilean Carmenere was so light and simple tasting and it did little to get my attention, I have to give it 2 stars.
WineLife365 Rating: 2-Star
Posted in 2-Star, Reds, Reviews-Wine | 
Tags: 2-Star, 2008, Carmenere, Chile, Concha y Toro, Red Wine, Wine Reviews, Wines under $10, Wines under $20
I’ve seen this in my wine store and actually have picked it up a few times, although have always decided on a different Carmenere. I guess I should keep it that way.
Try the 2007. I would be interested in your comparison. I’ve not tried the 2008, but found this vintage to be pretty complex and interesting. I also like the new Malbec from them and completely agree with your rating of the Cab/Merlot. Reminds me of a really good Pinot Noir from Oregon but at 1/5 the cost!
Concha y Toro is a terrific producer. I'm looking forward to trying the Malbec very soon.
Cheers!
Mark