2009 KAI Carmenere

The 2009 Kai is a blend of 97% Carmenere and 7% Petit Verdot aged for 20 months in 100% new oak. It is more generous on the nose than the 2006, with dark plum, dark chocolate, mint and bay leaf. The oak is nicely folded into the fruit profile. The palate is medium-bodied with more abraded tannins than recent vintages, with a herbaceous element towards the finish. It is a little gritty and slightly attenuated, though it has decent length. Drink now-2017. It was a pleasure to spend two or three hours in the company of Eduardo Chadwick at his estate and undertake verticals of his wines. Few have done more to promote Chilean wine than him, most notably with his blind comparisons with First Growth to demonstrate that Sena stands shoulder to shoulder with Old World icons. As you might guess, we had a long debate about that! But also, we engaged in a long discussion about viticulture and the philosophy behind his portfolio. Readers may remark on my relatively mean scores. I thought long and hard about this. But I firmly feel that recent vintages from Errazuriz completely outshine the older ones and speaking at length with winemaker Francisco Baettig, there is a sense of a winery changing tack and in my opinion, what this estate will produce in the next twenty years will completely surpass the previous twenty years. Importer: Vintus Wines, Pleasantville, NY; www.vintuswines.com