The 90's was probably the most exciting period for Chilean winemaking, with a strong interest from winemakers to discover and bring to the global stage a new country of origin that could produce bonafide wines much in the same vein as how California had come into the scene just over a decade prior. The allure, the promise, the opportunity - it was pretty palpable. Chile represented a relatively untouched New World frontier that seemed ripe for realising that dream.

And so it should come as no surprise that one of the most illustrious winemaking families - the Rothschild's - would find their way to Chile as well.

(Left) Eduardo Tagle, Chairman of Vina Concha y Toro SA, with Baronness Philippine de Rothschild (Center).

The effort in Chile was spearheaded in 1997 by the Baroness Philippine de Rothschild, who had by then earned much success with the introduction of the Californian Opus One to the French market, as well as being instrumental in creating the Le Petit Mouton as a second wine to Chateau Mouton Rothschild, amongst other achievements. She would be pretty wise to not go at it alone, instead she had partnered (under the namesake of her father's company, Baron Philippe de Rothschild SA) with Vina Concha y Toro, the largest winemaker in Latin America even till this day - and a highly well regarded one at that!

The project would be named Almaviva, a name taken from a character of French literature - Count Almaviva being the hero of The Marriage of Figaro, in the play by Beaumarchais, which was later turned into an opera by Mozart. It would manifest as a 60 hectare vineyard in Puente Alto, the highest part of the Maipo Valley of central Chile, an area deemed highly suitable for Cabernet Sauvignon growing, a core tenet of Bordeaux wines. Here the soils are of loamy clay, sand, gravel and rock below - considered alluvial, which allows for good drainage and some minerality. Sitting 650m above sea level, the ambient climate is semi-arid Mediterranean, with a good amount of temperature swings between day and night.

The Almaviva Chateau.

Here the Almaviva vineyard would produce the classic Bordeaux varieties of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Carmenere for the Chilean influence. The vineyards would be housed in a French-style chateau designed by Chilean architect Martin Hurtado. Even as the project got off to a start in 1998, that very year Almaviva's first vintage would already hit wine glasses as the vineyard had already some existing vines dating back to 1978.

As for the winemaking, fruit is de-stemmed, fully utilising gravity to move the grapes into vinification stainless steel tanks, where maceration and alcoholic fermentation takes place, after which the wine is aged in new French oak barrels for 6-8 months of ageing.

So with all that said, all the pizzazz and royalty and big names packed into one - let's give the Almaviva 2020 vintage a go!

The 2020 vintage consists of 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Carmenere, 6% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. It is aged for 20 months in new French oak. The vintage was marked by a particularly dry season, with rainfall being 75% lower than historical average, with also larger temperature swings, resulting in a slightly earlier harvest.

Almaviva 2020 - Review

Tasting Notes

Colour: Ruby

Aroma: Rich and dense notes of blackberry and blueberry jams, weaved in with tobacco leaves, and a very curious note of curry powder and green bell peppers. It's got pretty good intensity but is also rather pungent and potent. 

Taste: Good richness here as well, here it takes the form of mellow notes of blackberry jam, black licorice, as well as sarsaparilla roots. It's medium-bodied with a slight chewiness.

Finish: It turns more dry here, with more pronounced acidity, more of those black grape skins along with some receding sweetness of blackberry jams.

My Thoughts

The aromas here were very interesting with a sharper note of curry powder and green bell peppers that caught me off guard. It tampered down with time, but I did find it striking and thought it could be alittle more well-integrated, although I could've just as well passed it off for having some standout complexity. On the palate, it feels like it's got the potential to be aged much more as it still comes off rather jammy and chewy - tightly wound and not quite ready to open up.

That said, it did offer a bold and strong flavours with a good richness and body that came with a firmness of the fruit that was very enjoyable no less. The tannins began to appear more prominently on the finish albeit missing the mark on providing structure to the fruit. It almost feels like a cat and mouse chase where the tannins haven't quite caught up to the fruit to come together and produce a good balance. It almost misses the beat by just a little - perhaps a couple more years could change that. 

Kanpai!

@111hotpot