Winemaker Notes
Intense bright ruby red. Aromas of red currant, cassis, jam, dried herbs, and coffee. The spice comes out on the palate with notes of cherry, currant, and a touch of vanilla. It is juicy and finishes with smooth tannins.
A good match for grilled red meats such as a flank steak, barbequed beef, and creamy cheeses.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2022 Block Series Cabernet Sauvignon opens with a textbook bouquet of Maule Cabernet Sauvignon, evoking damp earth, black fruit, wet stone and herbal aromas. The palate is concentrated, deep and slow-moving while maintaining a mineral undercurrent that runs through the taut, focused finish.
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Vinous
The 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon Block Series, sourced from Mingre in the Maule Region, is an intense, garnet-hued wine aged for ten months in foudres (70%) and barrels (30%). It presents aromas of plums and cassis with an herbal layer. Dry and compact, with robust tannins, it will likely settle down with time, becoming more integrated and smoother. This wine offers a serious and flavorful experience.
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.
Maule is the Central Valley’s most southern and coolest zone, reaching a southern latitude of 35°S, yet it is still warmer and drier than Bío-Bío to its south. The Maule Valley enjoys success with a unique set of grapes.
It lays claim to the local variety, Pais (synonymous with Tinta Pais, which is actually Tempranillo), which has dominated much of the region’s area under vine until the recent past. Now many growers, not confined by the tradition and regulations of the Old World, also successfully grow Cabernet Sauvignon.
While Maule’s total area under vine remains relatively static, its old Carignan vineyards are undergoing a great revival. The VIGNO (Vignadores del Carignan Vintners) group, an association in charge of promoting this long-forgotten variety, is getting fantastic results from the old vines in its dry-farmed coastal zones.
The Maule includes the subregions of Talca, San Clemente, San Javier, Parral, Linares and Cauquenes.