The Carmenere grape is originally from Medoc, north of Bordeaux, France. It disappeared from Medoc following the phylloxera outbreak in the 19th century but, after hiding out in Devil’s locker for about a hundred years, reappeared in Chile at the end of the 20th century.
In case you didn’t know, Phylloxera are a grape destroying insect.
Xavier says that Carmenere is a very grown up kind of wine.
“So, you mean it doesn’t taste like wine coolers?”, I asked.
“I feel like I should be smoking a cigar,” he said.
We didn’t have cigars but we did have peanut M&M’s, which are dissimilar but also good.
Very dry and slightly bitter. The label said chocolate and coffee but, to clarify, they mean dark chocolate and black coffee.
This wine takes a long time to open up. I would give it at least two hours. The longer it’s been open, the better it tastes.
Casillero del Diablo Carmenere is deep, dark and dense. It is the Guinness beer of wine and was actually filling in a similar manner. You will probably not accidentally drink the whole bottle in one sitting. I recommend spacing this one out over a couple of nights.
I also recommend dental floss and a good whitening toothpaste as Carmenere will absolutely cause a sticky case of the penguin mouth.
Trust The Devil You Know 
Penguin Mouth? That’s a new one on me though I know exactly what you mean. I love this wine. Very bold and dense. I will usually drink it by itself. I think it over powers any food. Maybe a cigar would be a good alternative but I don’t smoke. I’m not sure about peanut M & M’s. Maybe.
Hi Emilio, I’m having a weird de ja vous moment because I could swear that I remember replying to your comment on this blog post, like 2 months ago, but it doesn’t seem to be here anymore. Either it disappeared into cyberspace or else I’m imagining things, which is also a realistic possibility. Anyway, “penguin mouth” is just a term that I made up to describe what red wine does to the color of teeth. You know, like the Danny DeVito in Batman Returns. 🙂
Oh, great. So that’s why my wife won’t kiss me?
maybe?