In 1997, Baroness Philippine de Rothschild, Chairman of the Advisory Board of Baron Philippe de Rothschild SA, and Eduardo Guilisasti Tagle, Chairman of Viña Concha y Toro S.A., sealed a partnership agreement with a view to create an exceptional Franco-Chilean wine called Almaviva. The rest is history. Not only did the 2017 vintage achieve a perfect score from James Suckling, it was awarded the prestigious Wine of the Decade designation. You’ll want to make room on your top shelf for some of these bottles winelovers…

The wine has been a labor of love by chief winemaker Michel Friou, a Chilean industry veteran and native Frenchman who joined the single-wine estate in 2007.

The presence of carmenere derived from a happy accident. Back in 1978, the estate originally thought it planted merlot and cabernet sauvignon vines as its two primary varietals. But, due to a nationwide mix-up across Chile’s vineyards, the estate later learned that their merlot vines were actually carmenere.

The accidental inclusion of carmenere created a unique legacy for Almaviva’s single-estate wines, which are neither wholly New World nor Old World, but somewhere in between. It works beautifully in the glass, too: the winery has scooped up several 94-plus scores from James Suckling over the past decade, achieving his highest praise twice in two years. “We are so cognizant of what we need to do to make great wines,” Friou says. “It’s about small changes. It’s all about the details.”

Blend – 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Carmenere, 5% Cabernet Franc, 3% Petit Verdot, 1% Merlot

Ageing – 18 months in new French oak

The 2019 Vintage:

Vintage 2019 in Chile was magnificent, a worthy successor of the superb 2018, in line with the greatest Chilean vintages of the last twenty years.

The vintage was notably dry with only 150mm of rainfall measured in Puente Alto between May and September 2018, compared to historical figures of 262mm. During the same winter growing season, temperatures dropped lower than usual, pushing budbreak to occur a couple of weeks later than expected.

Temperatures increased in November at higher levels than usual before returning to normal in December. Spring was also very dry with 11mm of rainfall, followed by an extremely warm summer. The acute conditions of heat and drought obliged us to start irrigation early, monitoring it closely, managing the hydric stress with precision.

Veraison started a bit later than average but was fast and homogeneous. The initial late budding was misleading as it hinted at a late harvest. However, the first vines harvested arrived at maturity a week earlier than usual. Picking started on March 21st for the Merlot and March 27th for the youngest Cabernet Sauvignon.

Cooler temperatures in April slowed down the ripening of the old Cabernet Sauvignon vines and other varieties, which ultimately resulted in a long harvest period of 10 weeks, until the last of the Carménère was brought in on May 27th.

The drier than average vintage 2019 gave us smaller berries, superb for all our Bordeaux varieties, packed with rich color and intense flavor, wonderfully balanced, generous in fruit and tremendous in quality.

Deep attractive dark ruby color. The nose is pure, precise and focused, revealing delicate and fine aromas of raspberry, cassis, blackberry and wild strawberry, associated to subtle notes of liquorice, coffee, ink and earth.
The wine is juicy and voluminous, filling the mouth with polished and smooth tannins, leaving an overall impression of harmony, length and persistence. Its great structure and density are well balanced by good acidity, characteristic of the great terroir of Puente Alto that aligns ripeness and freshness in this
superb and exceptional vintage.

James Suckling – 97 points

The aromas of iodine and blackcurrants with roses and lavender make the wine extremely perfumed. It’s full-bodied with a tight, fine-tannined palate that shows linear flow through the center palate. It’s vertical and integrated, adding depth and serious quality to the wine.

Wine Advocate Robert Parker – 95+ points

The 2019 Almaviva is a blend of 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Carmenère (from Peumo), 5% Cabernet Franc, 3% Petit Verdot and 1% Merlot, higher in Carmenere and reflecting a warmer and drier vintage when then bottled wine reached 15% alcohol. It fermented with destemmed grapes in stainless steel and matured in French oak barrels, 75% of them new, for 18 months. Here, the Carmenere adds herbal freshness and changes the aromatic profile when compared with the 2019 Epu. 2019 was a good year for Carmenere, which suffers in extremely warm years like 2017, but in moderately warm years like 2019, the variety displays that herbal character and has good density. It’s full-bodied and round, with saturated tannins, tasty, spicy and long, with a dry, serious finish. It’s balsamic, with notes of camphor and a silky and velvety texture.

Decanter – 96 points

Confident complexity on display here, fresh, powerful spicy notes of tobacco and grilled coffee beans alongside cool blueberry fruits. Winemaker Michel Friou has made a brilliant wine in this vintage that expands outwards through the palate. 100% new oak. Blend completed with 3% Petit Verdot.

Wine Spectator – 93 points

Elegant and rich-tasting, offering roasted berry and cherry compote flavors that show plenty of dried herbal accents. The finish offers firm tannins, with a savory edge and hints of mocha java. Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenère, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.