Winemaker Notes
Intense ruby red in color this wine offers up a nose redolent of cassis, cedar and sweet tobacco. In the mouth a framework of taut, yet elegant tannins give way to flavors of ripe dark cherry, espresso bean and just a hint of nutmeg.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Big, rich and filled with powerful red fruit and savory flavors that are supported by medium-grained tannins. Shows concentrated dark chocolate and creamy notes on the plush and well-spiced finish. Delivers impressive concentration and length. Drink now through 2022. 800 cases made.
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Wine & Spirits
Grant Phelps and Pilar Gonzalez source this wine from El Mariscal, a stony vineyard planted in the 1980s just outside Santiago. Those vines grew a ripe 2014 that takes some time to integrate, starting out with sweet cassis notes and savory black-olive tones. The disparate elements merge with air, lasting on graphite-like tannins. Pour it with brisket braised with carrots.
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.
Touching the Pacific in the west and stretching up into the Andes on its eastern side, the Rapel Valley is one of the more substantial fine red wine producing regions of Chile and contains both the Colchagua Valley in its south and west and the Cachapoal in its north and east. While it is recognized for its exceptional warm-climate reds, the region does produce some fine Pinot noir and Sauvignon blanc on its coastal side.
Some of the country’s finest Cabernet Sauvignon comes from the Rapel’s Andean foothills—with significant individualized smaller zones already identified. Soils here are mixtures of loam, clay, and sand; Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenère, and Merlot are the most prolific varieties throughout the region.