Winemaker Notes
Blend: 94% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Syrah, 3% Cabernet Franc
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
The 2021 Le Dix displays the nuances of its cold growing season. With aromas of cherry and crushed plum, it also delivers minty and cedar notes alongside boldo and garrigue-like undertones. Dry, velvety and rich, with a structured yet weightless palate, the complex and clingy mouthfeel leads to a long-lasting, flavorful finish. Comparable to the 2010 vintage, it will continue to evolve in the bottle. As one of the iconic wines of the Colchagua Valley and Chile as a whole, Los Vascos has crafted Le Dix for over two decades. It always hails from the same clayish plot of old vines planted in Peralillo.
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James Suckling
A ripe and fruit-expressive nose showing good generosity and complexity. Quince, ripe cherries and currants with subtle tobacco, dark spices and chili chocolate. Full-bodied and pretty expansive on the palate with fine, dusty tannins melting into the persistent finish. Really impressive length. It goes on and on.
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Wine Spectator
An intriguing and complex red, with bold aromas of tuberose, geranium and berry liqueur that join the generous and concentrated palate of blackberry and cassis, which gathers intensity and lingers, picking up graphite notes as this makes its way to the finish around fine, integrated tannins and a late push of cordial. Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Cabernet Franc. Drink now through 2034.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2021 Le Dix is a beautiful wine, opening with a pure, refined, evolving bouquet of dark fruits and judicious, well-integrated oak with a balsamic backdrop. The palate is velvety, saturated and refined, releasing into a soft, layered finish framed with refined tannins, solid depth and lingering nuances. While decidedly lavish and seductive, this does an admirable job of retaining intrigue. It contaings 94% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Syrah and 3% Cabernet Franc.
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Wine Enthusiast
It's fruity on the nose and palate, with delicate tannins. This Cabernet has a bouquet of cherry, raspberry and blackberry and a soft mouthfeel. A combination of baking spices and peppercorn wraps juicy red fruit and adds layers to this enjoyable wine.
Los Vascos wines blend Lafite tradition with the unique terroir of Chile to create elegant wines that bring exceptional to the everyday. The vision of Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite) to expand their estates took them to South America in 1988, becoming the first French viticultural investment in modern Chile. Since then, a comprehensive modernization and investment program has been undertaken, oriented towards the production of fine wine using and adapting the viticultural experiences of Bordeaux and other areas where Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite) is present.
Los Vascos is located in Valley de Caneten (Colchagua), a closed valley in the central zone of Chile, approximately 25 miles from the sea. The valley provides a perfect microclimate for high quality viticulture, with Northern exposure to lands uncontaminated by airborne or water-borne pollutants. Daily on-shore winds provide temperature changes between 68-77°F, for optimum maturation of the grapes. With 1581 acres, it is one of the largest vineyards in the central Colchagua valley, at the foot of Mount Cañeten.
Between 1989 and 1995 Winemaker Marcelo Gallardo studied at Universidad Austral de Chile graduating with a degree in Agronomy engineering. Marcelo continued his education studying and graduating from Universidad de Chile between 1998 and 1999 with a degree in Enology and Viticulture in Santiago. In 1999, Marcelo worked as an assistant winemaker at Viña Santa Rita in the Maipo Valley, and interned at Bodega Sandeman, Oporto-Duero in Portugal. After Portugal he performed a harvest at Domain Jandeau in Burgundy, France. Working for Viña Los Vascos since 2000, he became the Chief Winemaker and Production Manager in 2006. Marcelo routinely visits the other Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite) properties to bring L’Esprit Lafite to Viña Los Vascos. In addition, he collaborates on the latest developments in technology from top Universities and vineyards.
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.
Well-regarded for intense and exceptionally high quality red wines, the Colchagua Valley is situated in the southern part of Chile’s Rapel Valley, with many of the best vineyards lying in the foothills of the Coastal Range.
Heavy French investment and cutting-edge technology in both the vineyard and the winery has been a boon to the local viticultural industry, which already laid claim to ancient vines and a textbook Mediterranean climate.
The warm, dry growing season in the Colchagua Valley favors robust reds made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenère, Malbec and Syrah—in fact, some of Chile’s very best are made here. A small amount of good white wine is produced from Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.