100 POINTS
James Suckling
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.
100 POINTS
James Suckling
This is an emotional wine that touches your soul the minute you put your nose in the glass and then taste it. Its energy draws you in. Agile and ethereal. It redefines wine and the wines of Chile. Full and fresh with intense tannins, yet they remain bright and not heavy. A perfect wine by all accounts. 65% cabernet sauvignon, 23% carmenere, 5% cabernet franc, 5% petit verdot and 2% merlot. Drinkable now, but this will give you incredible pleasure in another five years. It was our Wine of the Decade in 2020. Try after 2027.
97 POINTS
Marina Gayan MW - Decanter
A Bordeaux blend, dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon (65%) and Carmenère (25%). Power and concentration, elegance and balance. Exuberant aromas of cassis, damson plums and peppers. The palate is complex with cigar box, dark fruit and herbal notes framed by dense and polished tannins, finely integrated oak and finishing on a remarkable lifted length. A wine that will benefit from decanting or laying down.
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.
94 POINTS
Robert Parker Wine Advocate
2017 was an unusual year—warm and extremely dry, with 178 liters of rain, but there was some rain after the 2016 harvest, so the soil had some water]—and the harvest and the whole cycle were two to three weeks earlier than normal. That is the context for the 2017 Almaviva, whose vines saw extremely low yields (10 hectoliters per hectare in the older parts, 36 hectoliters per hectare in the young vines) and produced concentrated juice. The bottled blend is 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Carmenère, 5% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petit Verdot and 2% Merlot, quite similar to the 2016, and the alcohol level reached 14.6% with a pH of 3.65 and 4.9 grams of acidity (measured in tartaric acid). It matured in French oak barriques (825 of them new) for 19 months. It's a riper, rounder and softer vintage, with moderate acidity and a tender mouthfeel, and it is really marked by very high temperatures all year round. They used a little more Petit Verdot in the blend, but there is no over-ripeness. The wine shows some herbal aromas (I really notice the touch of the Carmenère this year). They harvested extremely early (three weeks earlier than normal!) and were able to keep the tension in the wine, and it has a polished mouthfeel and very round tannins. It's a nicely crafted red blend, and they were able to overcome the difficulties of the year; I see the style of something between 2016 and 2015, quite compact. It might require some more bottle age to open up, and it should develop nicely in bottle. 180,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in January 2019.
94 POINTS
Robert Parker Wine Advocate
2017 was an unusual year, warm and extremely dry (178 liters of rain, but there was some rain after the 2016 harvest, so the soil had some water), and the harvest and the whole cycle was two to three weeks earlier than normal. That is the context for the 2017 Almaviva, whose vines saw extremely low yields (ten hectoliters per hectare in the older parts, 36 hectoliters per hectare in the young vines) and produced concentrated juice. The bottled blend is 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Carmenère, 5% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petit Verdot and 2% Merlot, quite similar to the 2016, and the alcohol level reached 14.6% with a pH of 3.65 and 4.9 grams of acidity (measured in tartaric acid). It matured in French oak barriques (825 of them new) for 19 months. It's a riper, rounder and softer vintage, with moderate acidity and a tender mouthfeel, really marked by very high temperatures all year round. They used a little more Petit Verdot in the blend, but there is no overripeness. The wine shows some herbal aromas (I really notice the touch of the Carmenere this year). They harvested extremely early (three weeks earlier than normal!) and were able to keep the tension in the wine, and it has a polished mouthfeel and very round tannins. It's a nicely crafted red blend, and they were able to overcome the difficulties of the year; I see the style of something between 2016 and 2015, quite compact. It might require some more bottle age to open up, and it should develop nicely in bottle. 180,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in January 2019.
94 POINTS
Michael Schachner - Wine Enthusiast
A ruby color with rusty edges and aromas of plum, cherry, cassis, olive, chocolate and spice make for an exciting opening. A structured palate is solid in feel but not hard, while this Cabernet- led blend tastes of ripe plum and currant along with oak-based spice. A full finish is generous but mellow, meaning this is drinkable now but should improve over the next several years; drink through 2026.
A very creamy, polished red with beautiful texture and lots of dark-berry and chocolate character. Smoke, tobacco and mushrooms come through. It’s full-bodied and very tight, yet velvety and polished. Opulent blend of 85% cabernet sauvignon with carmenere. A different wine from Almaviva, previously sold only in Chile. Drink after 2022.
