Casa Silva Carmenère Microterroir de Los Lingues 2005

The 2005 Casa Silva Carmenère Microterroir de Los Lingues is, by all accounts, the ultimate expression of Chile’s finest and most emblematic red grape. Furthermore, winemaker Mario Geise’s reputation as the “King of Carmenère” is no doubt solidified and enshrined for posterity with this wine, the estate’s first release of Microterroir. A saturated purple color, a staggering perfume of blue and black fruits that fill a room with its breath, and layer upon layer of complex ripe fruit, chocolate, and spice flavors that coat the mouth and reappear long after the wine has made its way down the throat add up to a peak experience. Elegant, opulent, and powerful all at once, the 2005 Microterroir de Los Lingues is knockout stuff upon which legends are made. Aficionados of Chile’s unique varietal will no doubt be talking about this wine for years to come and wish they had a cellar full of it. When we first tasted the estate’s 2005 Los Lingues Gran Reserva Carmenère nearly two years ago we thought it would be hard to beat; little did we know that Casa Silva was ready to trump that effort with the 2005 Carmenère Microterroir – their finest and most expensive wine to date. Enjoy this majestic effort now and for the next twenty years. For optimal enjoyment we suggest serving the hedonistic 2005 Microterroir de Los Lingues at cool room temperature (60º-66º F), after fifteen or twenty minutes of aeration.

A wine with the complexity, elegance, and depth of the 2005 Casa Silva Carmenère Microterroir de Los Lingues needs nothing more than a clean vessel to work its magic. For true Carmenère lovers, nothing else will be required. However, given the caliber of this Carmenère and the smorgasbord of flavors contained therein, pairing it with foods of equal stature could be cause for gastronomic ecstasy. Classic cuisine such as Beef Wellington, Duck à l’Orange, and Rack of Lamb would be a fine place to start. Perhaps even more exciting is Churrasco, an Argentine- or Nicaraguan-style Grilled Beef Tenderloin. It gets our nod every time we serve the finest Carmenère. The rich flavors and spicy sauces of the Churrasco complement the Microterroir de Los Lingues perfectly. Nonetheless, almost any grilled meat, even those with moderately spicy sauces, will find an indulgent partner in Casa Silva’s most opulent wine. Gourmet cheeses and dark chocolate truffles offer other gastronomic delights with this sensuous beauty, so . . . as you like it. Enjoy!

As recent reviews will attest, Casa Silva continues to astound critics and consumers alike with the quality as well as the variety of the wines it produces. Since its inception, Casa Silva has been an exemplary, pioneering winery that is not afraid to push the quality envelope in each vintage with its exciting Carmenère wines, but with the first release of Microterroir de Los Lingues Casa Silva has entered a whole new realm. Although the estate’s Colchagua vineyards are the oldest in the region, Casa Silva has only been making fine wine since 1997, the year this property began bottling premium wines under its own name. However, historical accounts tell us that the Silva family’s predecessors were pioneers in Colchagua more than a century ago, when they brought the first grape varieties from France to their Angostura estate at the base of the towering Andes. Today, the Silvas remain pioneers: they are Colchagua’s foremost experts on Carmenère, Chile’s emblematic red grape variety, and they produce the finest Sauvignon Gris and Viognier in South America, too. Casa Silva contains many old vines, some approaching 100 years of age, which helps account for the quality and intensity one finds in each of the estate’s wines. Casa Silva is located at the northern edge of the Colchagua Valley at the foot of the Cordilleran Andes. This is a magical place that is steeped in sheer physical beauty as well as Chilean tradition. Colchagua’s natural climatic conditions and terroir make it an extraordinary place to produce wine, which in no small way accounts for the great number of award-winning wineries now in Colchagua. Here Carmenère is King, and Casa Silva’s Los Lingues Vineyard is the most prized vineyard in the entire realm. Only the oldest and finest parcels of this great vineyard were used in making Microterroir.