Not So Ample Amplus One
From what I can gather, amplus is Latin for large and plentiful. The 2004 Amplus One is a red blend (70% Carmenere, 26% Syrah, and 4% Carignan) from the Maipo Valley in Chile that I opened the other night when BK made tri-tip. This wine produced by Santa Ema was rather big, true, but did not seem that plentiful as we reached for a surprisingly empty bottle to refill our glasses. This was a wine that evolved in the glass quite nicely and it did so quickly, as we were seemingly gulping it down. When I first opened it, bell pepper and oak hit me full on and took a few minutes to slow dance into black currants, plums, and cocoa. Immediately soft and smooth, it went down easliy. By the second pour, I found the green aspects were more olive than pepper and vanilla, that seemed to have come out of nowhere, despite the fact it was aged for 12 months in 100% new French oak. We both really enjoyed this wine and will have to get another bottle. Once there’s room, of course.
I tried this wine last year and liked it too. I can’t find my tasting notes on it to compare with yours, so I’ll just have to get another bottle!
Dave,
I always like to compare notes, too, just to see if there are similarities. I just saw recently on El Jefe’s post about quoting wine bloggers that Sonadora and I had some overlapping comments on The Spaniard, another good one to get if you haven’t already.
Cheers!