Winemaker Notes
Critical Acclaim
All VintagesThis is a fantastic chardonnay with impressive complexity. Dried apple, hints of lemons and lightly creamy oak. Stones and minerals, too. Full yet so vibrant and intense.
The sharper and saltier 2018 Marques de Casa Concha Chardonnay shows the Chablis-like character of he limestone soils and the marine influence from the proximity of the sea. They used some 600-liter barrels and lowered the percentage of new barrels, so the oak is very integrated. The wine is long and mineral, serious and balanced.
Marcelo Papa makes this wine from the Quebrada Seca Vineyard, 14 miles from the Pacific, its clay soils mixed with calcium carbonate that has been carried downriver off the Andes. And his wine has the pale, boney brightness of chardonnay grown in limestone, along with juicy apple and pear flavors and a tight limelike acidity lifting the finish. Pour it with crab. Best Buy
Clean whitefruit aromas show nice lift on the nose, while this Limarí Chardonnay smells faintly smoky and toasty. A textural body is medium to full in size, while light oak notes accent flavors of melon and green banana. A steady finish confirms the relative high quality of this oak-aged Chardonnay
Ripe tropical fruits over crisp apple and honey notes. Zippy acidity, plenty of fruit on the palate and a firm finish.
Founded in 1883, Vina Concha y Toro is Latin America's leading producer and occupies an outstanding position among the world’s most important wine companies, currently exporting to 135 countries worldwide. Uniquely, it owns around 9,500 hectares of prime vineyards, which allows the company to secure the highest quality grapes for its wine production. Concha y Toro's portfolio includes a wide range of successful brands at every price point, from the top of the range Don Melchor and Almaviva to the flagship brand Casillero del Diablo and innovative stand-alone brands such as Palo Alto and Maycas del Limarí. The company has 3,162 employees and is headquartered in Santiago, Chile.
Part of the Coquimbo region and a key location for pisco production, the Limari Valley is one of the northern most wine producing regions of Chile. The other two, also part of Coquimbo, are the Elqui and less-developed Choapa Valleys. While more vineyard area is dedicated to pisco production (via the grapes of Muscat of Alexandria, Pedro Jimenez, Moscatel de Asturia and Torontel), the acreage under vine for still wine production has increased. The intense sunlight in the Limari Valley, coupled with little rainfall as well as the cooling effect of the Humboldt Current from the Pacifc Ocean, all make the area ideal for cool climate grapes like Chardonnay and Pinot noir.
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.