Colchagua Valley

Last time I tasted the 2010, so now it's time for the second vintage, which is the 2011 Auma -- the top-of-the-range blend that changes with the vintage; in 2011, it contained Carménère (37%), Cabernet Sauvignon (25%), Malbec (18%), Syrah (13%) and Petit Verdot (7%) from their Los Lingues Estate in the mountain part of Colchagua, the Colchagua Andes appellation. The vines were planted in 2008 at 500-550 meters on clay and basalt soils. The uncrushed grapes fermented with indigenous yeasts in 600-liter oak barrels that are rolled and no pumps whatsoever are used. Each variety matured separately for two years in 225-liter barrels, except for the Syrah that goes into 400-liter barrels, all made of French oak. After the time in oak, the different wines are blended and put into egg-shaped cement vats for a further nine months before bottling, completing a total upbringing of some 33 months before the wine is put in bottle. There are plenty of notes of cigar ash, balsamic woods and some roasted aromas -- a quite classical Bordeaux blend -- with blackberries, tobacco and graphite. The wine is terribly balanced with great freshness, still marked by the élevage, but nothing a little bottle aging would not fix. A monumental kind of wine. 3,700 bottles produced.
Luis Gutiérrez - 31/12/2015

Lapostolle Wines was founded in 1994 by Alexandra Marnier Lapostolle, heiress to the Grand Marnier empire, to create world class wines using the French experience and the magnificent terroirs of Chile. The company now owns 370 hectares of vines, producing around 200000 cases annually, with the jewel in the crown being Clos Apalta, a single vineyard cuvee from a sub region of the Colchagua valley.

First launched in 1997, the wine is a blend of Carmenere (Chile’s signature red grape), Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Made with a firm nod to Bordeaux, but from the more Mediterranean climate provided by this part of Chile, the 2014 vintage is the finest to date.

A “perfect summer” in 2015 has resulted in great volume of fruit on the nose, hints of new oak too, a much bigger wine than previous vintages. The Cabernet dominates on the palate with notes of ripe blackcurrant, cedar and spice, rich and full-bodied. Merlot and Carmenere are in evidence too, rounding-out and filling-out the mouthfeel on the palate and adding some depth and complexity. The rich fruit is balanced by crisp acidity and full, firm tannins. A big, rich Clos Apalta, clearly built for the long-term, this will need a few years in the cellar, but has a wonderful, long life ahead of it. Drink 2022-2040+.
Chris Pollington, Private Account Manager