2014 Charme Tinto
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Tasting notes
The 2014 Charme is a field blend from old vines aged for 15 months in used French oak. It comes in at 13.2% alcohol. I liked some 2014s on release, but even the ones I liked made me wonder how they would age. Sometimes, they seemed precocious but unlikely to maintain interest as they aged. This is a good example of all that. This is still tasty, understated and elegant. Freshness is not the problem, in other words. But it seems thin and much more routine, not what you'd expect from a wine in this price category. That's not to say that there are no virtues. It has admirable mid-palate finesse, silky texture and some flavor on the finish. The flavor does fade a bit with aeration, though. Overall, this is a nice wine but not much more than that. It should continue aging reasonably well for most of the rest of the decade, but I doubt it will improve. The price of this library wine merely reflects the original release price from four years back.
Critic scores
Average Score
Julia Harding MW, jancisrobinson.com
Julia Harding MW, jancisrobinson.com
More reviews and scores
Old-vine field blend. Lagar fermented, 15-19 months in French oak. Light to mid cherry red. Fragrant with red cherry fruit and just the merest hint of spice. Has a refined and delicate intensity and such silky tannins already but there's depth as well as length. Mouth-watering and fragrant. Silky sweet red-cherry finish. For a lighter style it has amazing persistence. (JH)
Light cherry red. A little smokily reductive at first, opening to scented red fruit, ever so slightly floral. On the palate, this seems to have a depth and intensity that is nothing to do with mass but all to do with purity and freshness. Finest of tannins. Suits its name but it has depth as well as charm. (JH)