Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Gran Reserva Houssonet from Pirque, Alto Maipo, was aged for 12 months barrels. Garnet in color, the nose offers blackcurrant and cedar with a hint of bay leaf. In the mouth, it's compact with grippy tannins and intense flavor. The fruit takes charge toward the end where a delicate oaky layers emerge.
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Wine Spectator
This sanguine red opens with a layer of roasted coffee bean flavors, which join a core of cherry tart before fanning out around mineral-laced acidity. Picks up details of cinnamon-accented chocolate, showing nice length around firm tannins. Drink now.
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.
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.