Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A solid and structured red with velvety and firm tannins. Full body. Fresh and bright finish. Lots of clove and cinnamon. Drink now or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2013 Lot #50 Cabernet Franc is sourced, like all the lots of Cabernet Franc, from the Pirque Vineyard in Maipo, and in this vintage the vineyard is shown on the label (well, it's actually painted on the bottle!). It has that note of freshness I find in some of the best high-altitude vineyards, with some blue fruit aromas, something minty, leafy, herbal, balsamic, very fresh and a little wild. This is a vineyard at some 700 meters altitude. The palate is also very fresh, medium-bodied with very fine tannins, a fine texture and is very elegant. I tasted the 2009 for context and aging potential, and even when they used more oak at the time, the wine is aging very nicely, with some rusticity.
Cabernet Franc, a proud parent of Cabernet Sauvignon, is the subtler and more delicate of the Cabernets. Today Cabernet Franc produces outstanding single varietal wines across the wine-producing world. Somm Secret—One of California's best-kept secrets is the Happy Canyon appellation of Santa Barbara. Here Cabernet Franc shines as a single varietal wine or in blends, expressing sumptuous fruit, savory aromas and polished tannins.
The Maipo Valley is Chile’s most famous wine region. Set in the country’s Central Valley, it is warm and quite dry, often necessitating the use of irrigation. Alluvial soils predominate but are supplemented with loam and clay.
The climate in Maipo is best-suited for ripe, full-bodied reds like Cabernet Sauvignon (the region’s most widely planted grape), Merlot, Syrah and Carmenère, a Bordeaux variety that has found a successful home in Chile.
White wines are also produced with great prosperity, especially near the cooler coast, include Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.