The aromas of blackberry leaves and iodine are wild and exotic here with mussel shells and earth underneath. Full-bodied, tight and chewy with powerful tannins that show muscle. It’s structured and powerful. Dense and very, very deep. Don’t touch this until 2025.
Drinking Window: 2025 - 0000
Reviewer Name: James Suckling
ExternalLink: www.jamessuckling.com
External Id: James Suckling Tasting Notes
I retasted the 2016 and 2017 next to the current 2018 to get some comparisons. Tasting the three years side by side, the 2017 Almaviva is clearly the one with more herbal notes and lots of concentration. It was a warm year with low yields and high concentration, but funnily enough, there are more herbaceous notes in the wine. This is a year of power and concentration, but the tannins are nicely coated by juicy fruit.
Drinking Window: 2020 - 2032
Reviewer Name: Luis Gutiérrez
ExternalLink: www.robertparker.com
External Id: https://www.robertparker.com/articles/4HPG9yFzWrwgpB3Rp
A Cabernet Sauvignon mixed with 23% Carménère, 5% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petit Verdot and 2% Merlot from Puente Alto, Maipo that spent 19 months in French barrels. Reflecting a warm, dry year, the nose presents notes of black currant and raspberry jam, black tea leaves and sweet spices with a touch of kirsch. Gentle on the palate with firm, pleasant tannins, a loose structure, bold flavor and intriguing expression. A hint of menthol makes itself felt at the back of the mouth.
Drinking Window: 2020 - 2035
Reviewer Name: Joaquín Hidalgo
ExternalLink: www.vinous.com
External Id: Vinous Tasting Notes
Almaviva, plum red with a slight terracotta tint around the edges. Perfumed with floral aromas and notes of smoky tobacco and loam. Dried rose petals and ripe plum evolve toward resin and leather. The whole is enveloped in aromas of fig conserves and bay leaf.
The attack is silky and balanced with nice, fresh, supple tannins. Dried flowers, pine bark and forest undergrowth. A very harmonious and ethereal wine with a long lasting and smooth finish.
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.
Produced under the joint technical supervision of both partners,
the first vintage achieved immediate international success upon its launch in
1998.
The name Almaviva, though it has an Hispanic sonority, belongs to classical French literature: Count Almaviva is the hero of The Marriage of Figaro, the famous play by Beaumarchais (1732-1799), later turned into an opera by the genius of Mozart.
The label, meanwhile, pays homage to Chile’s ancestral history, with three reproductions of a stylized design, which symbolizes the vision of the earth and the cosmos in the Mapuche civilization. The design appears on the kultrun, a ritual drum used by the Mapuche.
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.
Produced under the joint technical supervision of both partners,
the first vintage achieved immediate international success upon its launch in
1998.
The name Almaviva, though it has an Hispanic sonority, belongs to classical French literature: Count Almaviva is the hero of The Marriage of Figaro, the famous play by Beaumarchais (1732-1799), later turned into an opera by the genius of Mozart.
The label, meanwhile, pays homage to Chile’s ancestral history, with three reproductions of a stylized design, which symbolizes the vision of the earth and the cosmos in the Mapuche civilization. The design appears on the kultrun, a ritual drum used by the Mapuche.
The Andes have a significant effect on the climate in Puente Alto. Vineyards are shaded in the morning as the sun rises over the mountain range, and warm, sunny afternoons are then followed by colder nights cooled by alpine winds. The altitude of the area exacerbates this diurnal temperature variation, slowing the ripening of the berries overnight. This leads to a balance of flavor and acidity in the wines of Puente Alto.
Vines arrived in the region in the 1800s, spreading south from the pioneering Cousifio Macul vineyard north of the Maipo River. Any description of Puente Alto as a wine-producing area must reference the great names Almaviva and Don Melchor – the two wines that put the area on the viticultural map.
Vinedo Chadwick is also based in Puente Alto and has cemented the region's prestige by winning international competitions and awards. The Berlin Tasting of 2004 pitched this Puente Alto wine against Chateaux Lafite, Latour, and Margaux and Italian greats Sassicaia and Tignanello. The panel of 36 European judges voted Viñedo Chadwick as the top wine, making history for Chile's wine industry and breaking the image of the country as a producer-only of 'good-value Merlot'.