2014 Almaviva, Maipo Valley, Chile

2014 Almaviva, Maipo Valley, Chile

Product: 20141083246
Prices start from £850.00 per case Buying options
2014 Almaviva, Maipo Valley, Chile

Buying options

Available by the case In Bond. Pricing excludes duty and VAT, which must be paid separately before delivery. Storage charges apply.
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6 x 75cl bottle
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Description

Deep and intense, with bags of Cabernet blue fruit character, this, along with Viña Seña, is proof of the potential in Chile for fine wine production. A touch of toast frames the rich, cassis and blueberry fruit on the palate, with ripe tannins adding structure. You could easily enjoy this now with ample decanting, but it would be best cellared for a few years. Drink 2019 to 2030.
Fergus Stewart, Private Account Manager.

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Critics reviews

Wine Advocate94/100
I retasted the 2014 Almaviva next to the current 2015 and 2016 for comparison's sake. 2014 is considered a very good year in the powerful and concentrated way. In Puente Alto, they didn't have problems with frost, but yields were some of the lowest in recent times. This vintage has more alcohol (the label reads 15% alcohol). It's developing at a slow paceit still has some lactic notes that denote youthand should have a long life ahead in the bottle. This could be a long-distance runner of a vintage; in fact, it remains more closed than the rest of recent vintages.
Luis Gutirrez - 31/10/2018 Read more
James Suckling
A wine with wonderful blueberry, blackberry and hints of cedar and spice. Full body, dense and beautiful fruit. Chocolate, walnut and berry. It goes on for minutes. A fabulous wine. Better in 2020 but gorgeous now. 97/100.
James Suckling
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About this WINE

Almaviva

Almaviva

Almaviva was established in 1996 by Baron Philippe de Rothschild of Château Mouton-Rothschild and Concha y Toro. Their aim was to create the first Bordeaux Grand Cru Classé equivalent in Chile. With 40 hectares of Concha y Toro's best Puente Alto vineyards being dedicated to the task and the steady hand of Patrick Leon (winemaker at Mouton and Opus One), the results have been nothing short of spectacular.

Located in the Maipo Valley, in Chile's central zone, Puente Alto was recognized over twenty years ago as offering ideal conditions for growing the Cabernet Sauvignon grape. It is here that 85 hectares have been reserved exclusively for Almaviva.

Characteristic features of Puente Alto include its stony soil, cold, rainy winters, and the hot days and cool nights of its summers. The Almaviva vineyard is tended with meticulous care from pruning to harvest. A revolutionary underground drip irrigation system has been installed, making it possible to deliver the precise amount of water that each vine needs with a constant concern for quality.

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Maipo

Maipo

Maipo Valley, the northernmost within Central Valley, is one of Chile's most prominent wine regions. It is located east of San Antonio and Casablanca Valley and north of Rapel Valley, and is nestled between two mountain ranges, the Andes and the Coastal Mountains, with Chile's capital city, Santiago, sitting in the middle.

Maipo is renown for its exceptional Cabernet Sauvignon, ripe, subtle, spicy and complex with its signature, powerful eucalyptus and blackcurrant flavours. It amounts for over 60% of the regions 10,000ha. Merlot, Chardonnay and Carmenere are also important.

Maipo plays host to several major, quality Chilean wine companies, including Almaviva, Concha y Toro, William Fevre, Santa Rita, De Martino
 

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Cabernet Sauvignon Blend

Cabernet Sauvignon Blend

Cabernet Sauvignon lends itself particularly well in blends with Merlot. This is actually the archetypal Bordeaux blend, though in different proportions in the sub-regions and sometimes topped up with Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Petit Verdot.

In the Médoc and Graves the percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend can range from 95% (Mouton-Rothschild) to as low as 40%. It is particularly suited to the dry, warm, free- draining, gravel-rich soils and is responsible for the redolent cassis characteristics as well as the depth of colour, tannic structure and pronounced acidity of Médoc wines. However 100% Cabernet Sauvignon wines can be slightly hollow-tasting in the middle palate and Merlot with its generous, fleshy fruit flavours acts as a perfect foil by filling in this cavity.

In St-Emilion and Pomerol, the blends are Merlot dominated as Cabernet Sauvignon can struggle to ripen there - when it is included, it adds structure and body to the wine. Sassicaia is the most famous Bordeaux blend in Italy and has spawned many imitations, whereby the blend is now firmly established in the New World and particularly in California and  Australia.

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