Terranoble’s Andes and Costa bottlings are part of an experiment to produce wines that showcase terroir.
The Andes bottling should be warmer and friendlier, because the site is inland. The Costa bottling should be cooler and calmer. I found the wines nearly identical organoleptically. Both are ruby garnet. Both have a fragrance of bramble fruits and herbs. The palate continues these notes, adding filigree of juicy plum fruits, both black and red, plus a peppery red-spiced finish.
If I had to stretch I’d say that the Costa is slightly more herbaceous, with a special note of eucalyptus, and the Andes is slightly more ripe, with less greenery and more deep plum fruit. But those positions are defensible by the thinnest margin.
The good news is that they’re both delicious, well-made Carménère wines with solid fruit, the characteristic ornament of greenery that is here not distracting but amplifying, and a finish that’s grippy and refreshing.
2017 Terranoble Carménère CA1 Andes Colchagua Valley
2017 Terranoble Carménère CA2 Costa Colchagua Valley
Both wines are 14% ABV and priced at $25 (samples); imported by Mundovino
