Winemaker Notes
Escudo Rojo Chardonnay Reserva is a bright yellow with a pale golden hue. The complex and intense nose opens on aromas of white blossom and fruit such as nectarines, lychee and pear, mingled with toasted hazelnut. From a very fine, elegant and succulent attack that displays freshness, good substance and excellent acidity, the generous and seductive mid-palate reveals pineapple, mango, and nectarine flavors together with delicate notes of nuts.
Professional Ratings
-
James Suckling
This is really creamy and delicious with lots of green-apple and lemon character. Hints of cream and vanilla. Granite undertone. Medium to full body. Rich and crisp at the end. Reserva this year. Drink or hold.
-
Decanter
A fresh Chardonnay from one of the coolest parts of Casablanca Valley. Bright, zingy aromas of lemon and lime, grapefruit and passion fruit, followed by a harmonious citrus palate with notes of freshly sliced pineapple and nectarine. Considered oaking (half of the wine spends nine months in second-use French oak) adds creaminess, balanced by focused acidity that persists through to a crisp, refreshing finish.
-
Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2019 Escudo Rojo Reserva Chardonnay shows firmness and sturdiness on the palate. TASTING NOTES: This wine offers lasting aromas and flavors of savory spice, ripe citrus, apple skin, and oak. Enjoy it with an oven-baked chicken. (Tasted: July 5, 2021, San Francisco, CA)
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
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.