I've been deliberately looking at Chilean wines since the earthquake last February, and especially, for Carménère from Chile. Locally, the best place to look for new world wines is at one particular grocery store, or at Trader Joe's. I haven't had a chance to go to either, yet, and this particular bottle of Concha y Toro Frontera Carmenere Valle Centrale Chile 2003 was a bit of a surprise find. Frontera is the easiest Chilean wine to locate in the U.S., and it's a good entry point to the rest of the wines from Concha y Toro.

Carménère, true to its Bordeaux region ancestry is frequently blended. This particular bottle is a blend containing 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 5% Shiraz. The Cabernet Sauvignon does add some structure to the wine, and I suspect the Shiraz was added to mellow out the tannins in this otherwise dry wine. It's a gorgeous dark crimson in the glass, with a hint of toast and something herbal on the nose. I wasn't expecting a lot, frankly, but this was rather nice— spicy and slightly herbacious, with a hint of toasted grain. I'm probably going to horrify you all, but it reminds me a bit of Malbec, with a hint of vanilla rather than the anise I associate with Malbec.