2008 2007 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997
Casillero del Diablo Merlot Vintage Not Specified
Ranked #1 for the most popular Merlot in the Chilean category.
Wine & Spirits
Casillero del Diablo Merlot 2008
A round and fleshy wine, with sweet plum, cherry and cinnamon. Nicely balanced with enough structure to make you want another sip.
Rob Bralow - Wine Post
A good, inexpensive, quality Merlot. Recommended.
Tom Marquardt and Patrick Darr - The Annapolis Capital
Good wines over ten dollars. Very flavorful, juicy and brambly.
The Wine Buzz
"Chilean wines can also be "Good Buys" like the 2008 Concha y Toro "Casillero del Diablo" Merlot."
Laurie Daniel - The Mercury News
Aged in American Oak and Stainless Steel Tanks....88 Points
Gerald D. Boyd - winereviewonline.com
A supple, complex Merlot, with a full body, intense fruitiness and a long, smoky-toasty finish. Excellent - 4 Stars
Restaurant Wine
Casillero del Diablo Merlot 2007
Best Value Red
This merlot has an opulent ripeness, without any green tinges.
Decanter Magazine - February, 2009
Winemaker Papa told us he added 10% Carmenere to the wine to give it interest and tighther structure because Merlot is a delicate varietal in Chile. The color is ruby. There's delicacy here, with soft sweet spice and vanilla tones, with rich blueberry pie flavors and chocolate and mocha flavors. There's much more of the same in the finish.
Quarterly Review of Wines - April, 2009
Silver Medal
Dallas Morning News Wine Competition - February, 2009
Casillero del Diablo Merlot 2005
Nicely balanced, with raspberry and violet scents, this is clean, soft and fresh. Chill it for grilled tuna. Good Value.
Wine & Spirits - June, 2007
"Velvety smooth 2005 Merlot smells of ripe plum and lilacs with a medium body with an anise finish." * * * 1/2
David Falchek - Sunday Voice (Wilkes-Barre PA) - January, 2007
"The Merlot is supple and finely flavored; a full bodied, moderately rich wine that is long on the finish, tasting of blackcurrant, pomegranate, toast and spicy oak." * * * * * Exceptional
Ronn Weigand - RESTAURANT WINE Issues # 113 & 114 - September, 2006
"Warm, cedary aromas of rhubarb and cured meat. Very smooth flavors of date, black earth and black pepper show good concentration..." 88
WINE NEWS - September, 2006
"This thoroughly enjoyable Merlot features a color of deep, saturated purple and a bouquet of ripe black currant and black cherry touched with black olives and dried herbs. In the mouth, it's juicy, solid and firm, built on layers of soft, grainy tannins and polished oak; 70 percent of the wine aged six to eight months in American oak barrels, the rest in stainless steel. Great with burgers, pizza and red meat pasta dishes." Very Good
Fredric Koeppel - Koeppel on Wine - June, 2006
"Luscious and dense with ripe plum and sweet oak, a typical Chilean value." 88
Anthony Dias Blue - Patterson's Beverage Journal - June, 2006
"Here’s a great buy from Chile if you like Merlot. Plum and chocolate aromas followed by dark berry and herbal flavors. Simple, smooth and flavorful."
Tom Marquardt & Patrick Darr - Capital (MD) - May, 2006
"Soft wild berry and vanilla aromas with plums and a whiff of mint. Broad on the palate with blackberry, tar, smoke and earth. A bold Merlot."
Rick VanSickle - Sunday Sun (Alberta CN) - November, 2006
Casillero del Diablo Merlot 2004
"Really delicious and well made, this has attractive rich, spicy, dark fruit and good balance with firm tannins. Pair it with medium-rare, well-seasoned grilled lamb chops." * * * *
Ottawa Citizen - November, 2005
"Nice and full on the nose, with a bit of subtle oak that yields smoke, bacon, coffee and mocha aromas. Red plum and sweet berry fruit lead to a smooth finish. Good and in proportion, if a touch raw and woody." 85 BEST BUY
Wine Enthusiast - November, 2005
"Juicy and dense with a cedary, lightly inky bouquet and delivers black cherry and berry fruits touched with earthy bell pepper notes."
Stephen Wong - The Province - October, 2005
"...from Chile's Central Valley will handle the seasonings and smoky aromas (of outdoor grilling) beautifully, showing plenty of sweet, ripe berry fruit and soft tannins."
Robert Whitley - The Record - September, 2005
Aged six to eight months 70 percent in American oak and 30 percent in stainless steel, Casillero del Diablo's Merlot '04 offers a bouquet of cedar and lead pencil with black raspberry, black cherry and plum scents with a touch of bitter chocolate. That fruit segues into the mouth but here is supported by stout elements of woody walnut meal and earthy dried porcini mushrooms in a dense, chewy texture. Considerable character for the price. Now through 2007. Very good
Fredric Koeppel - Koeppel On Wine - September, 2005
"Supple and juicy, with ripe red cherry and blackberry fruit and dashes of spice and chocolate."
Linda Murphy - San Francisco Chronicle - August, 2005
"Black hue with a fuschia rim. Muted scents of black fruit and earth. Spicy flavors of blackberry, forest floor and bell pepper. Warm finish." 86
Wine News - August, 2005
"...made by the venerable Concha y Toro winery. That wine is fleshy and plumy but not tannic, and it goes with just about everything – a wine to savor but not to contemplate."
Peter Hellman - New York Sun - May, 2005
"Dense, smoky, oak-accented fruit, with full black cherry, and cedar, vanilla and smoke aromas. Spicy and yummy. This is a nice New World merlot, showing judicious use of oak."
Gordon Stimmell - Toronto Star - February, 2005
Casillero del Diablo Merlot 2003
"A far more serious wine than the price would suggest, even worthy of cellaring, with dense, concentrated, highly structured blackberry, blueberry, cherry, anise aromas and flavors that finish with some toasty oak, espresso-like tannin and hints of dried herbs." * * * 1/2
Tim Teichgraeber - Minneapolis Star Tribune - May, 2005
"Black cherry and tealeaf scents over a soft and dense texture of tannins."
Chet Jaworski - Latrobe Bulletin - December, 2004
"100 Best Values of 2004"
Wine & Spirits - Buying Guide 2005 - December, 2005
"Here's another terrific value from the Casillero line. This meaty Merlot fills the mouth with its black cherry and tea leaf scents over a soft and dense texture of tannins. The freshness of its fruit makes it approachable now with fettuccine Alfredo." Exceptional Value 89
Wine & Spirits - October, 2004
"Oodles of ripe berries and spice; big and smooth with mocha and berry flavours. Drink now."
Decanter - July, 2004
"Medium bodied with a soft entry expressing plum, black cherry, and raspberry followed by hints of herbs and green pepper; some drying oak in the finish. Grilled red meats, hearty stews." Serve now, but will hold for some time.
Santé - July, 2004
"Open-knit, forward and tasty, with nice red and dark berry fruit, toast and bramble hints and a smooth, chocolaty finish. Drink now." 86
Wine Spectator - June, 2004
"The excellent 2003 vintage gave the reds of Chile an abundance of richness. Casillero del Diablo's '03 Merlot is plump and satisfying, a remarkable mouthful of wine for $8."
Robert Whitley - The Record (NJ) - May, 2004
"A really delicious and well-made Merlot from Chile. It's young and will mellow out more; it has attractive rich fruit power and good balance with firm tannins. A great match for rare-medium grilled lamb."
Rod Phillips - Ottawa Citizen - April, 2004
"Huge and colorful, and very youthful. For density and lushness on what can best be described as basic Merlot, you're not going to find it much better than this. It's all blackberry, chocolate and berries, but somehow they've squeezed some earth and spice in there as well." 88 "Best Buy"
Wine Enthusiast - March, 2004
Casillero del Diablo Merlot 2002
"Good balance of fruit and oak with a touch of spice on the finish; fairly complex." 90 ****
Cheers (Norwalk, CT) - March, 2004
"Classic modern nose of black cherry, cedar, tea and chocolatey oak. Very supple and smooth, with some wood tannin and heat. A winter wine for all your friends." ****
David Lawrason - Toronto Life - February, 2004
". . . As usual the Casillero Merlot is impressively dark, soft and juicy. The aftertaste is a mix of sweet plums and savoury spiced fruitcake. This will be extremely versatile with food or as a stand-alone sipper. It is still a bit chunky and youthful all of which bodes well for its development in bottle through 2004".
15 points/20
Anthony Gismondi - Vancouver Sun - January, 2004
"For guests who love bold, full-bodied reds, pour this rich, thick bad boy from Chile. Their teeth will be stained after a couple of sips. Doesn't matter what you eat with t; the wine will be the only thing you taste – but it's divine. The wine Spectator rated it an 87. The winery makes a good Cabernet Sauvignon for the same price, too, if you can find it."
Geri Koeppel - East Valley Tribune - November, 2003
"Nice concentration of red berry and plum fruit packed onto a leaner polished structure. Try with Chinese dishes combining beef or tofu with spicy black bean or oyster sauce." * * * +
Christopher Waters - Standard (Canada) - October, 2003
"Very tasty, with ripe raspberry and blackberry fruit, cocoa powder, toast and a hint of herb. Nice briery edge to the finish. Drink now through 2004." 87
Wine Spectator - October, 2003
"Casillero del Diablo Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah 2002 - Three different grape varieties, but all of these reds are sensational value, especially at the sale price. They share intense colour, unmistakable varietal characteristics, consistently excellent quality, and immense production volumes. Each of these will easily last through to the fall of 2004. Perhaps the most personally gratifying thing about writing this column is the opportunity it gives me for unreserved praise, so here goes; I'd call this Casillero trio of 2002 reds the best values currently available from anywhere in the world."
John Rempel - Winnipeg Free Press - October, 2003
"Excellent, full-bodied, distinct in character and lightly tannic; a Merlot tasting of cherry, tobacco and herbs. Has some richness. (2003-2004)" * * * *
Ronn Weigand - Restaurant Wine - October, 2003
"...is dark and earthy enough to have come from 'the devil's cellar.' Ripe and spicy cassis and black raspberry flavors are twined with smoke and cedar, all wrapped around a mineral core."
Fredric Koeppel - Commercial Appeal - September, 2003
Casillero del Diablo Merlot 2001
"Concha y Toro's 'cellar of the devil' wines go from strength to strength and the range now consists of nine first-class varietal wines whose finesse and flavour for less than a fiver is remarkable. With so much deliciously rich, creosote and cassis-charged fruit on board, I defy anyone to dislike it."
Jane MacQuitty - London Times - January, 2005
"Rich, elegant wine, Prial pronounced. Clean and fruity, Prado said. Hesser called it amiable. Asimov was put off by the bell pepper flavors." ** 1/2
Frank J. Prial - THE NEW YORK TIMES - March, 2003
"Recommended and Great Value - The wine displays marvelous aromas of black cherry and black raspberry fruit with a hint of cocoa. The fruit flavors are very forward with a nice touch of acidity in the finish for balance. Serve with roasted leg of lamb. Very Good "
Bruce May - PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE - January, 2003
"Highly recommended. Brilliant ruby red hue. Black cherry, black raspberry and pepper aromas. A rich finish leads to a satisfying finish with good depth of fruit, firm tannins and balanced acidity." 87
Beverage Testing Institute - November, 2002
"Nice and ripe, with raspberry and dark chocolate notes, and sweet spice and toast filling the finish."
Wine Spectator - November, 2002
"Highly Recommended. Rich chocolatey middle palate with concentration." ****
Decanter - October, 2002
Silver Medal
Tasters Guild Journal - September, 2002
"Clear spice and warm, ripe fruit, heady alcohol on nose. Soft attack--rich chocolatey middle palate with good concentration--firm bite of green-edged tannins and long finish." ****
Decanter (UK) - June, 2002
Casillero del Diablo Merlot 2000
"A big, powerful wine that smells of earth and tobacco. Concentrated fruit and a dark, brooding structure. Tastes of chocolate-covered cherries. Spicy, peppery finish."
Deborah Scoblionkov - Philadelphia Enquirer - April, 2003
"Consistent performer vintage after vintage, with cassis and eucalyptus aromas and sweet edged blackberry fruit with some staying power."
Gordon Stimmel - - January, 2003
"Dark ruby-red hue. Vanilla and bright cherry aromas follow through on a medium-bodied palate with a rich, textured mouthfeel that finishes smoothly with lingering berry fruit flavors. Rich, delicious, and utterly defying its price-point." 91 - Exceptional
The Beverage Testing Institute - December, 2001
"...beautiful violet color, rich blackberry flavor and great with cheeses."
Andy Andresky - Northwest Herald - November, 2001
"An attractive bouquet of black plum, smoke, herbs, mocha - even a graphite note - opens this juicy but solidly built wine. Chocolate and herb accents add palate interest, the feel is comfortably plump, but with an underlying firmness and some slightly prickly back-end tannins. Good now, and will improve over the next year or two."
Wine Enthusiast - Best of Year 2001 - December, 2001
"Deep ruby in colour with a bouquet of wild blueberry and vanilla (from the American oak). Full on the palate with sweet blueberry fruit but firmly structured."
Tony Aspler - Toronto Star - October, 2001
"Excellent quality and value. The wine is supple, full bodied, and medium rich, tasting of blueberry, black currant, toasted oak and herbs. Long finish." ****+
Ronn Weigand - Restaurant Wine - October, 2001
"Lots of cherry and ripe plum fruit abounds in this Chilean Merlot made by Concha y Toro. The mouthfilling flavors include a bit of chocolate and vanillin oak."
Tom Marquardt & Patrick Darr - Maryland Gazette - September, 2001
"Very deep ruby, almost purple, in color with good legs, this Merlot has an intriguing, deep, black-cherry nose, with some hints of cedar. On the palate, it's medium to full bodied and delivers plenty of sweet Bing-cherry flavors with hints of licorice or anise. The flavors linger. The wine is well structured, with good acidity for food and it has a silky mouthfeel. The finish is long and repeats the initial cherry and spice flavors. This is wonderful Merlot and an outstanding value. "Delicious," commented one taster." Wine of the Week
TableWine.com - September, 2001
"...had a great aroma, full of pepper, spice, perfume, cassis and blackberry jam. This was an incredible list of flavors for a wine that we learned later in the blind tasting cost less than $12. This wine ranked first in our tasting."
Frank Sutherland - Tennessean - July, 2001
Casillero del Diablo Merlot 1999
"A dense and well concentrated wine, with plenty of rich cherry, plum, currant and chocolate flavors, surrounded by dark spice notes, finishing long and firm."
Klaus-Peter Heim - Citybeat (PA) - November, 2002
"Deep ruby hue. Ripe pepper and berry aromas have a subtle, herbaceous quality. A rounded entry leads to a supple, fruit accented, medium-bodied palate. A balanced, varietally correct quaffer."
Beverage Testing Institute - April, 2002
"...medium-full-bodied, moderately complex, dry, soft acid, integrated oak, soft tannins... has finesse, juicy, smooth, supple" ***+ Good Value
WineToday.com - March, 2001
"...is a deep violet color with aromas of wood and vanilla. Typical soft tannins with cherry, toast and spice make this wine an excellent match for most red meat and pasta dishes."
William S. - Times (LA) - February, 2001
"Deeply coloured. The nose is highly appealing and packed full of pure black currant and the eucalyptus/mint aromas that are typical of Chilean Merlot. A sweet berry and cream flavoured mid-palate is followed by a long, smooth finish. Terrific value in a red wine all the relatives will love."
Anthony Gismondi - Vancouver Sun (BC) - November, 2000
"Another excellent wine from Chile and the price is right. Raspberry and cherry fruit tastes and coffee and smoke aromas combine for a complex, pleasant wine." Best Buy of the Week
Gene Spaziani - Journal Inquirer (CT) - November, 2000
"Ambitious effort here, emitting lots of coffee and smoke aromas followed by a nice blast of raspberry sherbet character and a good, gutsy finish. A lot of wine for so few dollars." Wine of the Day
Wine Spectator - November, 2000
"Ripe plumy fruit and herbaceous notes on the nose are matched by ripe, but not overpowering plum on the palate. There is a nice balance between lightly chewy tannins and acidity and a deft touch of oak on the finish. This is quite stylish wine, ready to drink now...excellent value..."
Sean Wood - Chronicle Herald - September, 2000
"...with 7 percent Cabernet Sauvignon blended in, has a penetrating red-black color, oodles of plump fruit, and plenty of round tannins to ensure modest (6 to 18 months) aging ability."
Ben Giliberti - WashingtonPost.com - August, 2000
Casillero del Diablo Merlot 1998
"Brilliant ruby-purple hue. Generous savory herb and mineral aromas show varietal complexity. A firm entry leads to a medium-bodied palate with grippy tannins. Solid flavor intensity with a plummy finish." 89 - Best Buy
Beverage Testing Institute - April, 2002
"Intense inky purple color. Concentrated nose with some American oak. Average fruit on the palate with soft tannins and low acid. The finish is short yet fruity." 15+
The Underground Wine Journal - Vol. XIX #7
"A full bodied, fruity Merlot with cherry, herb and black currant aromas/flavors. It is well balanced and lightly tannic on the finish. Excellent." ****+
Restaurant Wine - July, 2000
"Best Buy" 86 - Highly Recommended
Tastings.com (Beverage Testing Institute) - April, 2000
"A plush, well-sculpted Merlot from a reputable and value-conscious Chilean winery, this features fairly intense flavors of red plum and currant and well-integrated dark spice notes that linger on the finish." 86 - Best Buy
Wine Spectator - March, 2000
" A succulent Merlot. This medium-bodied Chilean is ripe, velvety, fruity and attractive with great weight balanced by suave tannins. A terrific by-the-glass wine." 86
Food Arts - March, 2000
"Smooth is not exactly a technical wine descriptor, but it's a great word for describing the silky mouthfeel of red wines that don't leave your mouth dried out from harsh tannin. This Merlot from Concha y Toro, one of Chile's leading wineries, carries smoothness to the max. It's medium bodied and dry, with pronounced herbal and plum aromas and flavors - but it's salient virtue is its smooth texture. This is a great everyday red because it's so easy to drink."
Mary Ewing Mulligan - Daily News - February, 2000
Casillero del Diablo Merlot 1997
"Saturated blood red. Very ripe aromas show a plummy, chocolatey note. A rich attack leads a moderately full-bodied palate with soft acids and alcohol on the finish."
Tastings.com (Beverage Testing Institute) - July, 2000
Casillero del Diablo Merlot Vintage Not Specified
"Smooth and polished stuff, this. Red berries, red currants, black plums, spice, with a hint of eucalyptus."
Dan Kislenko - Record - February, 2006
"Bold cherry, toast and spice aromas lead to firm flavors of fruit, oak and smoke. Great with pork dishes."
New Hampshire Magazine - October, 2005