Winemaker Notes
Blend: 95% Carmenere, 5% Syrah
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This is a very sophisticated Kai with aromas of blackberries, blueberries, violets and graphite that follow through to a full body with creamy, polished tannins that show tension and focus. The tannins are borderless. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Kai was produced with Carmenere and 5% Syrah from their Aconcagua vineyards 60 kilometers away from the sea. It has good ripeness, a medium to full body with 14% alcohol, integrated oak and a creamy texture after spending 22 months in French oak barrels, 67% of which were new. It keeps a riper varietal profile with generous spice and herbs, without heaviness and with fine tannins.
Dark, full-bodied and herbaceous with a spicy kick, Carménère found great success with its move to Chile in the mid-19th century. However, the variety went a bit undercover until 1994 when many plantings previously thought to be Merlot, were profiled as Carménère. Somm Secret— Carménère is both a progeny and a great-grandchild of the similarly flavored Cabernet Franc.
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.