Spring 2021 Letter

Spring 2021 Letter

Dear Casa Carmen Family,

We mean it when we say that “our Rosé lives in the Olympian summit of drinkability.” In fact, all our wines strive, first and foremost, for drinkability. That is because here at Casa Carmen, we believe that drinkability is one of the most neglected qualities in wine.

To say something is “drinkable” often sounds as if one is saying that it is barely palatable. Instead, winemakers and critics often favor adjectives like nuanced, complex, subtle, sublime, layered, deep, unique, etc. And there is nothing inherently wrong with these adjectives. The problem is that they often
reflect a preference for the esoteric over the ordinary. The goal is to exclude, to shroud wine behind an impenetrable mystery. This is what drove the “new world” towards obscenely cloying Chardonnays and mind-numbing Cabernets. It turns the limelight onto the product and the producer and forgets their fundamental purpose: to give, to please, to serve, to quench. Many, of course, never fell for the fad. And either way, the experiment has run its course and the best winemakers of the new world are moving back towards more balanced wines.

This is why we hold drinkability so high in our hierarchy of treasured traits. Because drinkability has been a key feature of good wine since the very beginning. Because drinkability is not self-centered. Because a drinkable wine is a sign that points beyond itself. It is a door that leads back to its origins,
and a path that disappears in a distant horizon.

Our Rosé and our Tinto are our ode to drinkability. So here is to you, familia, to your health and happiness, and may our humble creations help you along your way. May they bind you to what is beautiful and keep you from what is not. May they be a bridge in a time that so desperately needs connections.

Salud!

Enrique Pallares

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