tarapaca gran reserva carmenere 2017

viña tarapacá was founded in 1874 in an exceptional setting near the cordillera, it is at the foot of a volcano surrounded by mountains and the rio maipo river. located about fifty kilometers south of santiago, tarapaca the estate was successively renamed "viña de rojas" after the name of the creator don francisco de rojas y salamanca, "viña zavala", and now "viña tarapacá, ex zavala". in 1992, viña tarapacá was bought by the compana chilena de fosforos group, which made numerous investments. on this land of volcanic origin, its vineyard extends over 600 hectares between isla de maipo and talagente, in a terroir comparable to that of the bordeaux region; here the cultivation of the vines uses a drip irrigation system, at the source of the rio maipo. today, the domaine also vinifies cuvées from different terroirs, to which the most suitable grape varieties have been adapted. this process of authentication between terroirs and the best associated grape varieties is developing more and more in chile. viña tarapacá has a first cellar dedicated to chardonnay, with nearly 1500 french oak barrels, the second dedicated to red wines with more than 3500 american and french oak barrels. the estate also has its own wine museum, as well as a tuscan-style mansion built in 1927, bordered by a 10-hectare park. the 2017 gran reserva carmenère shows a lot more oak than the regular gran reserva. this is also from a warmer and riper year, with riper fruit that seems to have absorbed the oak in a different way and is less integrated. this is a ripe and peppery carmenere with lots of oak and a palate dominated by tannins and oak flavors.