Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Beautifully aged with savory, minty and sweet tobacco leaves, rich cassis, leather, orange peel, salted plums, roasted sesame oak, chocolate fudge and a fine, minty, cedary note. This is generous and juicy with assertive tannins coating the sweet fruit. Still refined, despite the generosity. 78% cabernet sauvignon-based, 10% carmenere, 7% petit verdot and 5% cabernet franc. Approaching its peak now, but the tannin frame and the center-palate concentration make a statement that this can hold for another decade.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
The Aconcagua River runs east from the charming costal town of Valparaiso and bisects the land creating the valley after which it was named. While alluvial soils predominate the Aconcagua Valey along its river throughout, its east-west flow creates drastically different conditions on each of its ends. Its western, seaside vineyards, with clay and stony soils upon gently rolling hills, produce cool-climate varieties such as Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Its inner region is one of Chile’s hottest and produces some of its best red wines. Panquehue in the inner Aconcagua is the site of Chile’s first Syrah vines, planted in 1993.