I first noticed DVine Wine at the South Bank Wine and Cheese festival. There I only had one glass of Loire Sauvignon Blanc but when I saw them at Venn Street Market in Clapham a few weeks ago I knew I had to buy a bottle. They supply Organic and Biodynamic wines from around the world and after a quick taster I bought this Odfjell Vineyards Armador Carmenere 2009 from Chile’s Maipo Valley.
If you’re thinking Odfjell doesn’t sound very Chilean you would be right. Far from coming from a long dynasty of winemakers, owner Dan Odfjell is a Norwegian shipping magnate. Having moved to Chile, he bought a farm and started out growing fruit trees but after a few years thankfully he changed tack and decided to focus on grapes in the late 90s, commissioning his recently graduated son to architect a thoroughly modern winery with sustainability in mind. All his grapes are organically grown and apparently old-vine Carignan is is signature varietal, although this 2009 “Armadour” is 100% Carmenere. In the glass it’s a gorgeous purpley colour and on the nose there’s plenty of black fruit. Enjoyed slowly over the course of an evening it constantly evolved, showing mint, liquorice, spice, earth, coffee and dark chocolate. 25% of it has been in new oak for about 4 months so there’s a slight hint of vanilla but it certainly didn’t overpower the other aromas. In the mouth it’s full bodied and well structured with grippy tannins. I’m very glad that Dan Odfjell switched from ‘normal’ fruit to the king of fruit – the grape – and I’ll definitely be seeking out his other wines, especially the Carignans.