Winemaker Notes
La Piu Belle is the goddess of the Millahue Valley - the Place of Gold. Complex, beautiful, voluptuous, intense, elegant and fresh. She is the mystical world's personification of our incredible terrior, which was brilliantly captured in a bottle. A timeless reflection of the beauty of nature.
Blend: 81% Carmenere, 14% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Syrah
Professional Ratings
-
Jeb Dunnuck
The 2022 La Piu Belle was born in 2011 after the producer realized part of its property offered a completely unique flavor of Carménère. Thus, a new blend based on Carménère was born, named “the most beautiful” and adorned with art. This vintage has 81% Carménère, 14% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 5% Syrah, the other varieties able to tamp down Carménère’s greener tendencies. Blackberry, oak spice, and midpalate volume give it a medium-bodied concentration that never feels heavy, while well-integrated tannins help to lengthen the layers. Spending 20 months in French oak, with 19% in Barroir barrels from the property, the wine has a gorgeous texture of energy, tension, and juicy cassis, with a hint of graphite and dust lingering on the finish.
-
James Suckling
A rich and opulent wine with a lovely tannic texture. Creamy and quite hedonistic in style. Blackberries, roasted red peppers and hints of mocha and cream on the nose. It has good generosity of fruit and flavors, but remains juicy and vibrant, full of dusty tannins. Really long. 81% carmenere, 5% syrah and the rest cabernet sauvignon. 22 months in oak, of which 45% was new oak. Drink or hold.
-
Vinous
The 2022 La Piu Belle is composed of 81% Carménère, 14% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Syrah from Millahue, Cachapoal. Aged for 22 months in 45% new oak and 19% amphorae, this opens with notes of pyrazines, ash and roasted bell pepper, followed by blackberry and ripe fruit. The oak remains in the background. Compact yet juicy on the palate, with reactive tannins and a persistent black-fruited finish, it’s unmistakably Carménère in both aroma and structure, yet shows added vitality and nerve in a more contemporary style.
-
Wine Enthusiast
From the Cachapoal Valley, comes this lively Carménère blend. Aromatic herbs and dark cherries lead to a rich palate, where chocolate-coated blueberries intertwine with subtle hints of green bell pepper and tobacco, culminating in a long and flavorful finish.
-
Wine Spectator
An elegant entry of petrichor, pine and floral berry notes joins a suave-textured core that swells with richer plum and cherry tart flavors. A twinge of acidity helps to move things along, expanding the smooth finish around a late echo of cocoa bean. Carmenere, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. Drink now through 2035.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Aromas of cream, spices, resinous herbs and toasty oak introduce the 2022 La Piu Belle, a blend of 81% Carménère, 14% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Syrah. Like much of the Vik range, the palate is soft, seamless and svelte, albeit a hair slower-moving and more grippy than other bottlings in the lineup. The finish is a touch more punchy and features bright, vibrant acidity within the context of a treatment-oriented wine.
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.