Winemaker Notes
Blend: 55% Carmenere, 45% Cabernet Sauvignon
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Tasted side-by-side with the Neyen 2009, this younger wine is more vital and strapping. Spicy aromas of herbal berry and cassis come with a tree-bark accent. This is well cut but delivers good body and weight, while flavors of herbal plum and berry are spicy and finish earthy and loamy. Drink through 2020.
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Wine Spectator
Redolent of dried currant and sandalwood, this is a vibrant, gutsy red, featuring of deep vein of cocoa powder. Exhibits an elegant texture, with a finish that lingers with fig and olive notes. Drink now through 2019.
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James Suckling
A round and juicy red with hints of sandalwood, dark berry and blueberry. Full body, velvety tannins and a juicy finish. Opulent yet shy. A blend of half carmenere and cabernet sauvignon. Better in 2015.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2010 Neyen shows more purity on the nose compared to the 2009, with blackberry, blueberry, flinty notes and a touch of smoke. It has fine delineation. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins over a dense core of earthy, tobacco-infused black fruit. The finish shows more delineation and refinement than the 2009. There is a satisfying, sophisticated touch to this 2010. Drink 2014-2022.
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.