Chile: Nuevo Mundo

As you would expect from right-on importer Vintage Roots (goes to their site) with their long-standing organic-with-knobs-on credentials, this new range (Nuevo Mundo = New World in Spanish obviously) is sourced from the Maipo Valley by star winery De Martino (profile on them and Carmenere 1996-2010 vertical tasting report to follow, by the way!) entirely from certified organic vineyards managed with "increased water efficiency," as the blurb says. Not only that, I'm also told the wines are "100% carbon neutral (how's that then, transported by wind power perhaps?) and made from native yeasts with low sulphite levels..."

Carrying the eco-business theme right down the line, the labels and cases are from recycled materials and the paper used is even chlorine free with "low ink content." Needless to say, they only use light-weight bottles too to cut down the shipping weight. So, well done guys. And the quality of the wines, you might well be wondering... Very good across the board with a nice mix of styles of red varietals and blends, although I didn't try their two Sauvignon blancs back at Wines of Chile's annual London mega-tasting (much as I enjoy drinking Chilean SB, I couldn't face the thought of sampling through loads of wines that all taste pretty much the same, just different levels of intensity usually).

2011 Carmenere rosé (13% alc.) - lively and crisp with bags of red fruits, builds up to a creamier finish vs refreshing and juicy. £8.75
2010 Carmenere red (13.5%) - tangy soy sauce notes vs raspberry / blackberry fruit, spicy peppery edges with attractive fresh side vs a bit of weight and a touch chewy too. £8.75
2009 Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon / Carmenere (14%) - similar tangy soy aromas / flavours with extra cassis, cherry and plum tones; attractive sweet / sour finish, longer and more intense than the above. Makes a nice change that Reserva doesn't just mean "oaky" here! £10.50
2009 Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon / Malbec (14%) - tasty cassis notes with spicy edges, concentrated and firm vs sweet fruit, stylish and long. £10.50
2007 Reserva Carmenere (14.5%) - herby red pepper tinges vs savoury leather tones, intense and punchy palate vs enticing maturing fruit edges, quite big yet still tight and structured on the finish. Lovely wine. £9.50 on offer.