Winemaker Notes
With a deep red color, almost purple, its shades and fresh acidity, very present, invite us to many more years of storage. Its 23 months in a new French barrel provide it with a unique brightness with dried fruits and a subtle mocha, making this pleasant complexity to become a friend who opens the soul and spirit to share a new bottle.
Endless red fruit aromas, fresh but ripped, and spices that develop in each glass, providing an aromatic complexity that keeps the senses awake. A structured and elegant mouth, inherent to Cabernet Sauvignon, with velvety tannins, but firm in structure that provide a linear and long-lasting sensation with a pleasant half mouth, which makes it complex but friendly, while its ending invites to a new glass to continue enjoying this typical subtle and pleasant minerality own to Cabernet Franc.
Blend: 67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Cabernet Franc, 14% Carmenere, 2% Merlot
Professional Ratings
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Tasting Panel
VIK’s vineyards encompass 11,000 acres dispersed across 12 valleys. This wine, first released with the 2011 vintage, took ten years of research to develop, including more than 4,000 deep-soil studies to find the right terroir. Weather stations were installed to determine planting locations and the ideal exposure levels to wind and sun. This vintage, a blend of 67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Carménère, 17% Cab Franc, and 2% Merlot, is an intense creature with a satin entry that exudes luxury. Aromas of lavender and rhubarb are accented by alluring hints of spiced red tea. Generous and vivacious, this well-structured red possesses freshness and a bountiful maturity that will last for a decade or more. This is what Chile can deliver at its finest.
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James Suckling
Darker purple color in the center showing youthfulness. Aromas of blackcurrants, black chocolate, and balsamic. Medium to full body, fine tannins and a juicy finish. Nice tension. 67% cabernet sauvignon, 17% cabernet franc, 14% carmenere and 2% merlot.
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Wine Enthusiast
Stewy berry aromas are a touch soupy and herbal, with green notes and a hint of raisin. In the mouth, this is saturated, chewy and dense. Baked berry, black plum, cocoa and baking spice flavors finish steady but a touch flat. This is an excellent Chilean red by all standards, but one with limitations. Drink through 2025.
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Wine Spectator
Powerful and well-structured, with medium-grained tannins and firm acidity supporting the plum and dried berry flavors. The minerally finish shows mature elements. Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenère, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Syrah.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
They used more Cabernet Franc in the cooler 2013 vintage for the blend of their flagship 2013 Vik, which for the first time does not contain any Syrah. It's 67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Cabernet Franc, 13% Carmenere and 2% Merlot that matured in 100% new barriques for 23 months. It's 13.7% alcohol. However, I feel like the wine comes from a different oenological era, as there is a little more rusticity and more influence from the oak in the wine as well as quite high ripeness or sensation of ripeness in the fruit. In fact, when I asked about it, winemaker Cristian Vallejo explained that he calls 2013 "the year of change," when he understood the difference of their Cabernets with those from other regions. However, I think the change is more noticeable in 2014, as I tasted the 2014 next to this 2013. 54,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in October 2016.
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.