Winemaker Notes
Refined and complex, with intense fruit notes, the nose reveals wild strawberry, cherry, and blackcurrant aromas mingled with delicate notes of vanilla. Excellent attack on the palate with a concentration and balanced acidity, on silky and refined tannins. The wine goes on to reveal its distinctiveness and aromatic complexity on ripe black fruit and Morello cherry flavors followed by notes of vanilla, mocha, and toasted hazelnuts on the finish, demonstrating all the power and complexity of Baron Philippe de Rothschild's selection of the finest Cabernet Sauvignon grapes.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A focused nose, showing tangy and deep cabernet character with rich berry fruit and a hint of tobacco leaf. Cassis, sandalwood and dark chocolate, too. This is a full-bodied red with a tight yet silky structure. Some black fruit and dark olives in the middle with nice length.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2020 Baron Philippe de Rothschild Escudo Rojo Cabernet Sauvignon is packed and firm on the palate. TASTING NOTES: This wine excels with aromas and flavors of rustic earth, dried spices, black fruits, and licorice. Pair it with an oven-baked Porchetta. (Tasted: July 24, 2023, San Francisco, CA)
Escudo Rojo is an iconic Chilean brand created by Baron Philippe de Rothschild to produce the best wines in each category and market them worldwide. The wines strike a harmonious balance between freshness, fruit, oak, fullness on the palate and ageing potential. In addition to the flagship blended wine, the Escudo Rojo range includes five varietal wines: Carmenere, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. All the wines in the range express a distinctive character, reflecting the expression of its terroir.
Escudo Rojo is the Spanish translation of the German “Rote Schild” meaning Red Shield. In 1999, the encounter between Chilean soil and Bordeaux expertise gave rise to Escudo Rojo, a branded wine worthy of the Baron Philippe de Rothschild name, synonymous with the high standards of a great winemaking tradition. Vines were first introduced into Chile in the 16th century by the Spanish Conquistadors and their religious orders who needed wine to celebrate mass. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay vines were imported from France in the 19th century in order to make finer wines.
Located at Buin-Maipo, 45 kilometers south of Santiago in the famous Maipo Valley, the Baron Philippe de Rothschild Maipo Chile bodega stands in its own 63-hectare (156-acre) vineyard. The wines are made, matured, bottled and packaged at the estate under the supervision of a French winemaker and under the control of an in-house laboratory. For each of its wines, the winery selects the best parcels in Chile’s most highly reputed valleys in order to make wines which consistently combine refinement and character. Regular sources of supply and constant quality are also guaranteed by long-term contracts with partner winegrowers, especially further south, in the Rapel Valley. A rigorous parcel selection procedure has been created, with each parcel being tested for three years in order to ensure that the grapes are of sufficiently high quality to be used to make Escudo Rojo.
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.
