Winemaker Notes
Viola is produced from the fruit of the very best vineyards on the Maquis estate. The tiniest grapes from these vineyards are concentrated and yield silky tannins with the greatest depth and complexity.
The skills of viticulturist, Xavier Choné, and blenders, Jacques and Eric Boissenot, are clearly apparent in this balanced and elegant blend.The spices, black fruit and smooth texture of the Carménère, the principal component of the blend, are complemented by the extraordinary finesse and length on the palate by the Cabernet Franc
Blend: 85% Carménère, 9% Cabernet Franc, 6% Cabernet Sauvignon
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A refined but spicy carmenere with 9% cabernet franc and cabernet sauvignon. Cassis, tobacco leaf and a bit of graphite and pencil lead. Pretty classy with nice depth of flavors and a long, nuanced finish. A little richer than 2018, but still very poised and very detailed. Nothing flashy here.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Since the initial vintage in 2009, the 2019 Viola has always been produced with Carmenere grapes from the same vineyard, a plot planted ungrafted from a massal selection in 1997. It contains 9% Cabernet Franc and 6% of Cabernet Sauvignon from a warm and dry, low-yielding year, and it fermented with selected yeasts. After malolactic, the wine was blended and put in French oak barrels, 25% to 30% of them new, to mature for 24 months. It has 14% alcohol but keeps good freshness. The deep alluvial soils with abundant clay make the grapes ripen well, and the wine is very young and very varietal and peppery at this early stage (I tasted it with vintages going back to 2010). It should age nicely.
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Wine Spectator
Elegantly detailed, showing balsam and mineral twinges to the geranium aromas and silky, refined palate. Plush, with fresh raspberry and cherry flavors that linger nicely around suave tannins and cocoa powder details. Carmenere, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. Drink now through 2030. 1,250 cases made, 150 cases imported.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
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.