Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2011 Royale Cabernet Sauvignon from the first and second terraces from their vineyard where the soil is a mixture of clay and granite, is blended with a small percentage of Merlot and Petit Verdot. It has a ripe nose of red and black fruit with impressive floral notes (Cristobal thinks the red fruit and strawberry aromas come from the Merlot this year) with some minty tones and faint aromas of paprika. The palate is medium-bodied, with fine-grained, polished tannins and typical notes of cedar wood and tobacco, with moderate acidity. It’s a fruit-forward, juicy and hedonistic Cabernet. Drink now-2015.
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Wine Spectator
Offers mineral-infused red fruit and savory spice flavors that are structured and well-focused, accented by plenty of green olive notes. A latent creaminess extends onto the lively finish.
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.
Well-regarded for intense and exceptionally high quality red wines, the Colchagua Valley is situated in the southern part of Chile’s Rapel Valley, with many of the best vineyards lying in the foothills of the Coastal Range.
Heavy French investment and cutting-edge technology in both the vineyard and the winery has been a boon to the local viticultural industry, which already laid claim to ancient vines and a textbook Mediterranean climate.
The warm, dry growing season in the Colchagua Valley favors robust reds made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenère, Malbec and Syrah—in fact, some of Chile’s very best are made here. A small amount of good white wine is produced from Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.