Carmen picks up gongs in Descorchados 2021

South American wine group Santa Rita Estates has picked up a string of medals in the Desorchados 2021 awards.

Emily Faulconer, chief winemaker at Viña Carmen

Author Patricio Tapia awarded 99 points to Carmen Gold 2018 and Viñedo Chadwick 2018, the highest score that the writer has given to a Chilean wine since the Desorchados guide was launched in 1999.

The wine is made with Cabernet Sauvignon grapes sourced from a specific lot in an Alto Maipo vineyard first planted in 1957. Carmen’s first Gold vintage was produced in 1993.

Carmen, which is Chile’s oldest winery, appointed Emily Faulconer as its chief winemaker in 2017. Although the winemaker has previously said that lasting changes in the vineyard take years to present themselves in the wine itself, she has been working on picking dates, bringing harvest forward in order to produce fresher styles of wine.

Chile’s producers have built a reputation for producing premium Cabernet Sauvignons in recent years.

Emily Faulconer, chief winemaker of Viña Carmen, said the recognition is “great news for Chilean wine, especially for Alto Jahuel and Cabernet Sauvignon, since this recognition supports the potential of this place to achieve exceptional wines; a great boost for all of us who work in this particular sector of Alto Maipo.”

Commenting on the Carmen Gold’s progression throughout the years, Tapia said: “Carmen Gold 1993 was one of the first Chilean icons I tried. And, although that was more than a quarter of a century ago, the strong, super concentrated style of its first vintages remained in my memory.

“The oenologist Emily Faulconer, however, has taken it another way, a much more subtle one, even delicate. Take as an example the new 2018 vintage, which, for us at Descorchados, is the best we have ever tasted. And we have been lucky enough to try them all”.

Other brands in the portfolio to win top prizes were Casa Real Reserva Especial 2018 being awarded 98 points and included in the rankings “Best Reds”, “Best Cabernet Sauvignon” and “Best Maipo Andes”. Meanwhile, Floresta Carmenere 2018 also obtained 98 points, and came top in a number of categories in the Desorchados 2021 including “Best Carmenere” of Chile, “Best Apalta” and “Best Reds”.