Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
The complexity of this is something very special with dark berries, hot stone, iodine, and oyster shells. Full-bodied, very tight and polished with creamy tannins that envelop your palate, caressing every inch. Deep and dark fruit and wet earth at the finish. Drink or hold.
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Tasting Panel
Deep crimson color with ripe berry notes, tangy acidity, and hints of herbs; fresh, deep, and juicy with a lengthy finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
Ripe berry aromas are supported by notes of coffee, mocha, smoldering charcoal and baking spices. A flush palate brings the fruit in quantity, while the flavors are all about quality and emphasize blackened, spicy blackberry, mocha and toast. Given that 2016 was a tough year for red wines in Chile, this is a big success. Drink through 2025.
Dark, full-bodied and herbaceous with a spicy kick, Carménère found great success with its move to Chile in the mid-19th century. However, the variety went a bit undercover until 1994 when many plantings previously thought to be Merlot, were profiled as Carménère. Somm Secret— Carménère is both a progeny and a great-grandchild of the similarly flavored Cabernet Franc.
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.