Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This full-bodied wine has beautiful complexity, with flowers, sandalwood and subtle currants, a dense centre palate and a long finish. Purity in cabernet sauvignon.
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Decanter
From a warm area within the context of Alto Maipo, this benefits from a cool vintage to express a sophisticated version of Casa Real, rich in black fruit flavours, juicy in its vibrant freshness, delicate in its texture. A classic Cabernet that will benefit from time in bottle to gain in complexity.
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Wine Enthusiast
After a rooty, spicy opening that includes aromas of tree bark, leather, marzipan and ripe berry fruits, this perennial winner shows superb balance, mouthfeel and overall integration. Flavors of cassis, cherry, plum, dry spice and chocolate finish long, lightly herbal and with complexities. Drink through 2020.
Editors' Choice
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Wine Spectator
This rich style drips with chocolate mousse notes that envelop a concentrated core of dark currant, roasted plum and black fig flavors. Shows plenty of mocha and cocoa powder details as well, with hints of mint, all supported by fresh acidity. Drink now through 2020.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The product of the historic earthquake vintage, the 2010 Casa Real Cabernet Sauvignon is holding up well, although unlikely to improve. It opens with herbal-driven aromas that meld with remnants of charred wood, cocoa powder and dehydrated black fruit. The palate is soft and luscious, largely defined by velvety, milky richness before concluding with melting tannins. While this is a solid snapshot of the times through the lens of a cool vintage, the remaining bottles are best consumed in the near future.
A noble variety bestowed with both power and concentration, Cabernet Sauvignon enjoys success all over the globe, its best examples showing potential to age beautifully for decades. Cabernet Sauvignon flourishes in Bordeaux's Medoc where it is often blended with Merlot and smaller amounts of some combination of Cabernet Franc, Malbecand Petit Verdot. In the Napa Valley, ‘Cab’ is responsible for some of the world’s most prestigious, age-worthy and sought-after “cult” wines. Somm Secret—DNA profiling in 1997 revealed that Cabernet Sauvignon was born from a spontaneous crossing of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc in 17th century southwest France.
The Maipo Valley is Chile’s most famous wine region. Set in the country’s Central Valley, it is warm and quite dry, often necessitating the use of irrigation. Alluvial soils predominate but are supplemented with loam and clay.
The climate in Maipo is best-suited for ripe, full-bodied reds like Cabernet Sauvignon (the region’s most widely planted grape), Merlot, Syrah and Carmenère, a Bordeaux variety that has found a successful home in Chile.
White wines are also produced with great prosperity, especially near the cooler coast, include Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.