Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
Powerful even as it is angular, this weaves spicy scents into the tobacco notes of cabernet franc (42 percent of the blend). Acidity sets the pace with its tension in the mouth, providing freshness to highlight the red fruit flavors. This is a great vintage for Maquis, taking Colchagua fruit - usually voluptuous and sweet - in a tart and austere direction.
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James Suckling
Very balanced and refined with a pretty density of fruit plus soft and silky tannins. Full body, currant, berry and hints of chocolate. Very fine and delicious. Why wait? A blend of cabernet franc, syrah, carmenere and petit verdot.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2010 Lien contains 50% Carménère, 35% Syrah, 10% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot; it shows a very savory nose, feels almost salty and should do very well with food. 2010 had good ripeness and they had a lot of good Carménère, so it is quite dominant in the blend. It's quite complex with plenty of smoky notes from the Syrah. The palate has an abundance of fine-grained tannins, a bit powdery, ending dry. Ready to be enjoyed with food. Some 50,000 bottles were produced.
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Tasting Panel
Dark and spicy with notes of smoke, plum and soft herbs; rich and balanced, complex and long.
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Wine Enthusiast
This racy, fresh, cool-vintage blend is a touch rubbery on the nose, with berry and cassis undertones. A tight palate delivers a mix of dark plum, blackberry, baking spice and chocolate flavors in front of a peppery, dry, crisp finish. Drink through 2019.
With hundreds of red grape varieties to choose from, winemakers have the freedom to create a virtually endless assortment of blended red wines. In many European regions, strict laws are in place determining the set of varieties that may be used, but in the New World, experimentation is permitted and encouraged resulting in a wide variety of red wine styles. Blending can be utilized to enhance balance or create complexity, lending different layers of flavors and aromas. For example, a red wine blend variety that creates a fruity and full-bodied wine would do well combined with one that is naturally high in acidity and tannins. Sometimes small amounts of a particular variety are added to boost color or aromatics. Blending can take place before or after fermentation, with the latter, more popular option giving more control to the winemaker over the final qualities of the wine.
How to Serve Red Wine
A common piece of advice is to serve red wine at “room temperature,” but this suggestion is imprecise. After all, room temperature in January is likely to be quite different than in August, even considering the possible effect of central heating and air conditioning systems. The proper temperature to aim for is 55° F to 60° F for lighter-bodied reds and 60° F to 65° F for fuller-bodied wines.
How Long Does Red Wine Last?
Once opened and re-corked, a bottle stored in a cool, dark environment (like your fridge) will stay fresh and nicely drinkable for a day or two. There are products available that can extend that period by a couple of days. As for unopened bottles, optimal storage means keeping them on their sides in a moderately humid environment at about 57° F. Red wines stored in this manner will stay good – and possibly improve – for anywhere from one year to multiple decades. Assessing how long to hold on to a bottle is a complicated science. If you are planning long-term storage of your reds, seek the advice of a wine professional.
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.