Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Following the house style, the 2011 Alto Tajamar was quite balsamic and spicy, with ripe fruit but without excess. It's a blend of Syrah with 8% Cabernet Sauvignon from Maipo with a little bit of a style from yesteryear (the newer wines showed more restrained oak) showing aromas of Mediterranean herbs, including esparto grass. The wine has been in bottle since late 2013, so it should have polished all those edges a little more. This is destined for fans of ripe and oaky reds.
Marked by an unmistakable deep purple hue and savory aromatics, Syrah makes an intense, powerful and often age-worthy red. Native to the Northern Rhône, Syrah achieves its maximum potential in the steep village of Hermitage and plays an important component in the Red Rhône Blends of the south, adding color and structure to Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is the most widely planted grape of Australia and is important in California and Washington. Sommelier Secret—Such a synergy these three create together, the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre trio often takes on the shorthand term, “GSM.”
The Maipo Valley is Chile’s most famous wine region. Set in the country’s Central Valley, it is warm and quite dry, often necessitating the use of irrigation. Alluvial soils predominate but are supplemented with loam and clay.
The climate in Maipo is best-suited for ripe, full-bodied reds like Cabernet Sauvignon (the region’s most widely planted grape), Merlot, Syrah and Carmenère, a Bordeaux variety that has found a successful home in Chile.
White wines are also produced with great prosperity, especially near the cooler coast, include Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.