2016 Berry Bros. & Rudd Chilean Merlot by Viña Doña Javiera, Maipo Valley
About this WINE
Vina Dona Javiera
Viña Doña Javiera has a history of winemaking that dates back to the beginning of the 20th century. The family was one of the first to recognise the potential of the Maipo Valley and begun planting vines there in 1942. Located at El Monte, 50 kilometres west of Santiago, a site which gives its name to their Monte Verde range, with exposure to cooling Pacific breezes, this vineyard is blessed with a superb climate for viticulture. The winery has a capacity for 1.5 million litres and the plantings include Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Carménère, Syrah, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay vines.
Viña Doña Javiera only produces wine from its own vineyard, with grapes hand-harvested after a strict selection process. Award-winning Chilean winemaker Felipe de Solminihac, ensures his wines have an impressive purity of fruit, delicate aromas and excellent structure.
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
Merlot
The most widely planted grape in Bordeaux and a grape that has been on a relentless expansion drive throughout the world in the last decade. Merlot is adaptable to most soils and is relatively simple to cultivate. It is a vigorous naturally high yielding grape that requires savage pruning - over-cropped Merlot-based wines are dilute and bland. It is also vital to pick at optimum ripeness as Merlot can quickly lose its varietal characteristics if harvested overripe.
In St.Emilion and Pomerol it withstands the moist clay rich soils far better than Cabernet grapes, and at it best produces opulently rich, plummy clarets with succulent fruitcake-like nuances. Le Pin, Pétrus and Clinet are examples of hedonistically rich Merlot wines at their very best. It also plays a key supporting role in filling out the middle palate of the Cabernet-dominated wines of the Médoc and Graves.
Merlot is now grown in virtually all wine growing countries and is particularly successful in California, Chile and Northern Italy.
When is a wine ready to drink?
We provide drinking windows for all our wines. Alongside the drinking windows there is a bottle icon and a maturity stage. Bear in mind that the best time to drink a wine does also depend on your taste.
Not ready
These wines are very young. Whilst they're likely to have lots of intense flavours, their acidity or tannins may make them feel austere. Although it isn't "wrong" to drink these wines now, you are likely to miss out on a lot of complexity by not waiting for them to mature.
Ready - youthful
These wines are likely to have plenty of fruit flavours still and, for red wines, the tannins may well be quite noticeable. For those who prefer younger, fruitier wines, or if serving alongside a robust meal, these will be very enjoyable. If you choose to hold onto these wines, the fruit flavours will evolve into more savoury complexity.
Ready - at best
These wines are likely to have a beautiful balance of fruit, spice and savoury flavours. The acidity and tannins will have softened somewhat, and the wines will show plenty of complexity. For many, this is seen as the ideal time to drink and enjoy these wines. If you choose to hold onto these wines, they will become more savoury but not necessarily more complex.
Ready - mature
These wines are likely to have plenty of complexity, but the fruit flavours will have been almost completely replaced by savoury and spice notes. These wines may have a beautiful texture at this stage of maturity. There is lots to enjoy when drinking wines at this stage. Most of these wines will hold in this window for a few years, though at the very end of this drinking window, wines start to lose complexity and decline.
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Description
On the nose our 2016 Chilean Merlot melds attractive hedgerow aromas with notes of cinnamon spice. Soft, plummy fruit comes to the fore on the palate with layers of intense blackberry fruit. The finish is deliciously rounded, smooth and fresh with a hint of sweet morello cherry. Incredibly versatile and very drinkable, this is quite simply the perfect all-rounder.
Catriona Felstead MW, Wine Buyer
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