Winemaker Notes
Futa means “big and magnificent” in Mapudungún, the indigenous Chilean Mapuche language. This wine brings together the determination of the Hurtado family and the talent of Eric Boissenot to achieve a World class Cabernet Sauvignon, with a style marked by its freshness and elegance. The grapes were harvested from the finest vineyards owned by the Hurtado family on their Marchigue Estate and the winemaking process preserved the full glory and majesty of the Terroir.
Blend: 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Cabernet Franc
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The top of the range here is the 2016 Futa Cabernet Sauvignon, from a specific plot from their vineyards in Marchigüe, and it is complemented with 14% Cabernet Franc. It fermented at a controlled temperature, never exceeding 24 degrees Celsius, with soft pumping over and matured in French barriques for 24 months. This has remarkable freshness and harmony. I've seen an improvement in the Cabernet Sauvignon from Calcu and Maquis, and this is a very good example of it. There is perfect ripeness and a notable absence of green aromas, and it shows the balsamic varietal aromas with perfectly ripe, very fine grained tannins. It's elegant, clean and very expressive.
Rating: 94+ -
James Suckling
This has very bright and vibrant aromas of raspberries and red cherries with lightly leafy nuances and red florals, too. The palate holds a fresh, pure core of attractively juicy red-plum flavor. Drink or hold.
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.