It’s not every day that you get to taste wines made over half a century ago – but earlier this month I got to trace CVNE’s flagship Imperial Gran Reserva all the way back to the 1947 vintage. Victor Urrutia, the fifth generation of his family to take the helm of this legendary Rioja producer, put together a tasting of what he called “the dirty dozen” – lining up 12 vintages of Imperial. The wines were chosen to show how the wine speaks across a range of vintages – not just the most famous, but the hot, the cold, the mighty and the mediocre.  CVNE has been making wine in Rioja Alta since 1879, so – even going back to 1947 – this tasting offered just a snapshot of its history. Imperial was created in the early 20th century (1917 is the earliest vintage Urrutia himself has tasted), conceived as “super Rioja”, Urrutia explained. The idea was to make the best wine possible, regardless of its commercial potential, at a time when Rioja didn’t have the prestige of today. Around 50,000 bottles are produced, but – importantly – Imperial isn’t made in every vintage, with the quality of the fruit in some years not meeting CVNE’s stringent standards (there was no 2003, 2006 or 2013, for example, and there won’t be a 2023 either).  For Urrutia, the goal with Imperial now is to reflect each vintage, and fine-tune the wine rather than look for revolution. The early vintages are their benchmark and inspiration. Across the vintages, however, Urrutia points to a “churchy” nose – something he finds is distinctly Imperial and reminiscent of the winery.  It’s easy, perhaps, to forget how well Rioja ages – and not just over a decade or two, but over half a century. The oldest vintage in this tasting, the 1947, was undoubtedly the star – a wine that has retained its freshness, with delicate aromatics and a beautifully long, pure, resolved palate. The entire flight impressed – with the quality of Imperial shining through. Some of Rioja’s legendary vintages featured (the 1970 and 1959, which sit alongside the likes of 1982 and 1964 in the history books), but my personal favourites were the aforementioned 1947, the still compact 2004 (named Wine Spectator’s Wine of the Year in 2013), the brooding 2011 and pretty, elegant 2018.   The Imperial vineyards  The fruit for Imperial Gran Reserva comes from CVNE’s best vineyards, all over 40 years in age and almost all bush vines, yielding around 4,000kg/ha (equivalent to circa 25hl/ha or less than 1.5 tons/acre). The parcels all sit close to the Cantabrian mountains, at around 500-600 metres’ altitude, and on poor but cool soils (clay and limestone) – lending the wines great freshness, even in hot and dry years, explains longtime Technical Director María Larrea.  The village of Villalba de Rioja has been the backbone of the wine since its conception. This village was where the Real de Asúa brothers (who founded CVNE) first bought vineyards, four kilometres from Haro. The vineyards are steep and south-facing, exposed to the winds and some of the vines therefore have to be trellised (cordón Royat), but it brings acidity and freshness to the wine – something that is essential for its ageing potential. Parcels in the villages of Briones and Torremontalbo were added later, in the 1960s. Briones has richer soils, gentle slopes and a warmer climate, giving structure and body to the wine, while Torremontalbo has steep, stony slopes with calcareous soils and a significant diurnal shift, adding minerality and finesse to the blend.  The Imperial blend  The blend has shifted over the years, with the wine originally around 40% Garnacha and 40% Tempranillo, with the remaining 20% Graciano and Mazuelo. The old vineyards were field blends, with the varieties interplanted and harvested together, meaning mixed ripeness levels – something that arguably brought balance and complexity to the wines, even if some of the fruit wouldn’t have been ripe. Nowadays, each variety is planted separately at CVNE – allowing them more control and precision, harvesting each grape at the perfect moment and crafting a blend in the winery.  There was a move away from Garnacha in the 1970s, with more and more Tempranillo planted instead. Garnacha was less appreciated, seen as a workhorse, an impression that was only reenforced when lesser, high-yielding clones were planted in the 1980s and 1990s. As Larrea also noted, Garnacha is much more prone to coulure and millerandage (poor flowering and fruit-set), which may have been another factor in its decline. There was also a time, Urrutia explained, when Bordeaux was the reference point for fine wine, and they looked to imitate the region, favouring Tempranillo for its darker colour versus the more thin-skinned and therefore pale Grenache. Today, the blend is dominated by Tempranillo (with the 2017 and 2018 Imperial both 85% Tempranillo), but Grenache is undergoing a revival across Rioja and – provided they can have the right clonal material and/or older vineyards – it may contribute more to the blend in time.  The proportion of Graciano and Mazuelo has been reduced slightly, but Larrea emphasises how important the two grapes are in the face of climate change. Mazuelo (aka Carignan/Cariñena) provides structure and colour, while Graciano contributes acidity and aromatic complexity.  The winemaking  Although she joined CVNE in 1991, María Larrea took over the winemaking for Imperial with the 2005 vintage, following on from Basilio Izquierdo, who had been running things for over 30 years (since 1973). Before Izquierdo came Ezequiel García, known as “El Brujo” (“The Wizard”), winemaker for CVNE for over three decades (he returned briefly in 2014 to recreate their legendary white, Monopole).  Across the three winemakers and almost 70 years, surprisingly little has changed. The winemaking here remains extremely traditional, although technology has allowed the team to monitor the wines more closely, and for better winery hygiene, as in most regions. Fermentation remains indigenous, although it’s no longer spontaneous – the wines have been inoculated with a selected strain of their indigenous yeast since the early 2010s (with some experiments in the 1990s). Traditionally fermentation was in concrete tank, however this moved to oak in the 1990s, with one lone vintage (1994) fermented in stainless steel when the vats hadn’t arrived in time.  The wines used to be stored in barrel and only bottled when they were sold, so some older vintages of Imperial spent over a decade in barrel, while today the wine normally stays in barrel for between two and three years. (The bottling dates for each of the vintages is included below – the 1947 wasn’t bottled until 1960!) Originally the oak was all American, simply because that is what they had access to via their historic trade routes, and the barrels were kept for decades (Larrea remembers using 40-year-old barrels when she arrived in the 1990s). CVNE gradually started introducing French oak in the 1980s, with around 30% French oak used in the 1990s and around 60-70% today, with the remainder American.   The wines: tasting eight decades of CVNE Imperial  A note on the bottles themselves: older vintages are in green glass, however they moved to brown glass around 10-15 years ago.  2018 Imperial Gran Reserva: This was a real highlight of the vertical. It is very youthful still, fruit-forward, yet with amazing finesse and delicacy. The nose is precise with dainty aromatics of spice, graphite and florals alongside the crystalline fruit. The palate is juicy and lithe, pure, silken and fresh with savoury tobacco and dried red berries filling the mouth-watering finish. Beautiful and very open, even now. Fermented in oak, 14% alcohol and bottled July 2021.  2017 Imperial Gran Reserva: Frosts swept across much of Europe in late April in 2017, although the rest of the season was relatively warm, producing a tiny crop of concentrated fruit. It’s a drastically different wine to the 2018, yet still with great freshness and a floral lift alongside ripe, sweet red fruit. The palate is tight, much less approachable than the 2018, with compact tannins, a bite of crunchy acidity and a grip of firm tannins, while smoky tones that fill the finish. Decant to enjoy now, but this will be even better with a couple more years in bottle. Fermented in oak, 14% alcohol and bottled July 2020.  2015 Imperial Gran Reserva: The 2015 Imperial is dark and intense, layered with rich bramble fruit, cedar, tobacco, spice and something meaty – a hint of biltong, perhaps. The palate echoes the concentration of the nose, with chewy tannins and a line of acidity that cuts through its intensity. Powerful, almost stern, with more dried fruit coming out with air, the finish is long and savoury, with a touch of red miso. Fermented in oak, 14.5% alcohol and bottled June 2018.  2011 Imperial Gran Reserva: Another standout in the vertical, the 2011 Imperial offers a dark and pure nose, still surprisingly primary with black cherry and cassis fruit, lifted by sweet spicy perfume. The palate is silken and pure, still so youthful, flowing across the tongue, framed by firm but integrated tannins. It’s concentrated and long, with floral aromatics dancing on the juicy finish. Hard to resist with great balance. Fermented in oak, 13.5% alcohol and bottled July 2014.  2009 Imperial Gran Reserva: This is a very serious Imperial now at a lovely stage of maturity – with savoury undergrowth and spicy notes sitting alongside the vibrant dark berry fruit. The palate is intense yet with a softness to it, despite the chewy framework of tannins. It’s juicy and expressive, with smoky, spicy, tobacco notes playing on the finish, and just the slightest hint of leather starting to appear. Fermented in oak, 13.8% alcohol and bottled January 2013.  2004 Imperial Gran Reserva: From “a textbook vintage” in CVNE CEO Victor Urrutia’s words, the 2004 is shining. Pencil shavings and bacon complement ripe, dark fruit. The palate is tight and compact, yet with a juiciness that elongates the whole thing, with acidity that drives through to the long finish. The tannins are supple and soft, integrated with the fruit, but still offer a grip on the finish. Bright and effortlessly balanced. Fermented in oak, 13.8% alcohol and bottled October 2008.  1994 Imperial Gran Reserva: This is an intriguing vintage of Imperial, the only one ever to have been fermented in stainless steel as they were switching from cement to wood, but the new vats didn’t arrive in time for the vintage. It was also served at the wedding of Spain’s Crown Prince, who later became King Felipe VI. After the 2004, this marks a shift towards wines dominated by tertiary notes, although there’s still plenty of fruit here. The nose is spicy with mushroom and undergrowth alongside incense and leathery tones. The palate is laden with umami – with fresh leather and dried berry fruit – as well as dried strawberries, supple tannins and refreshing acidity. Fermented in stainless steel, 13.16% alcohol and bottled June 1998.  1980 Imperial Gran Reserva: As CEO Victor Urrutia said, 1980 was “a shit vintage” – and has always been in the shadow of 1981 and 1982. Tasting the wine today, that’s probably fair – however it’s still an impressive wine. The nose has a distinctly herbal, menthol edge to the sweet fruit – macerated strawberries, with a balsamic hint. The tannins still offer bite, while the fruit shifts to darker, more bramble tones towards the finish. Fermented in concrete, 13.4% alcohol and bottled May 1985.  1970 Imperial Gran Reserva: The 1970 vintage was hot and produced powerful wines – earning it a reputation as one of Rioja’s finest vintages. After over 50 years, the wine is intensely savoury – combining soy, marmite and barnyard tones with intense, dark fruit. With air, the wine offers layers of spice (almost reminiscent of paprika), bacon frazzles and smoked almonds, complementing the concentrated core of fruit. It’s intense yet balanced, with bright acidity that keeps everything fresh and fills the long finish. Fermented in concrete, 12.97% alcohol and bottled March 1975.  1968 Imperial Gran Reserva: From a more difficult vintage, the 1968 Imperial has a charming nose that seamlessly combines savoury and sweet – with earthy richness that sits alongside incense-inflected berry fruit and a pleasing herbal note. The palate is elegant and vibrant, with plenty of fruit still driving through its core, while more savoury, smoky notes dominate the finish. Fermented in concrete, 12.7% alcohol and bottled April 1974.  1959 Imperial Gran Reserva: The 1959 vintage is another of Rioja’s most lauded, although I suspect this bottle was not showing its best. There’s a plushness and intensity to the palate, with a sharp drive of acidity, while the nose is dominated by leather, black liquorice and barnyard. Fermented in concrete, 13% alcohol and bottled February 1968.  1947 Imperial Gran Reserva: An amazing wine to tasted, the 1947 CVNE Imperial has a reputation – one that this bottle more than lived up to. Coffee and tobacco notes with bright fruit – ripe red cherry and raspberry, as well as florals, incense, black tea and sage, alongside smoky perfume. It’s long and fresh on the palate, seamless and fully resolved but pure and persistent, with a Bovril edge to the finish which is vibrant and long. Gorgeous now – drink it while you have the chance. Fermented in concrete, 12.4% alcohol and bottled August 1960.  Explore all CVNE listings, including a range of back-vintages of Imperial Gran Reserva, or read more Editorial 

Earlier this month, CVNE hosted a once-in-a-lifetime tasting of their Imperial Gran Reserva. Sophie Thorpe explores what makes the wine so special and how it has evolved over eight decades 

Exploring CVNE’s flagship Gran Reserva Rioja, Imperial, back to 1947 at a once-in-a-lifetime tasting with CEO Victor Urrutia 

Tasting CVNE’s Imperial Gran Reserva Rioja 2018-1947 

An icon through the ages: CVNE’s Imperial Gran Reserva 

“Meet my girlfriends,” calls Telmo Rodríguez down the phone, laughing as he flips his camera to show two enormous shaggy-haired mutts. The skies are crisp and blue on the other side of the screen, the sun beating down on Remelluri, his family estate in Rioja Alavesa. The camera swings across the horizon as he introduces me to one of his team before rushing indoors to sit down for our call. There’s an almost frenetic energy to Rodríguez – and that energy is what in many ways defines the maverick winemaker, who has been one of the transformational forces in Spanish wine.  His parents purchased La Granja Nuestra Señora de Remelluri – a farm that has been home to vines since at least the 14th century – in 1967. Growing up on this special property, young Rodríguez went off to study winemaking in Bordeaux, then trained at properties including Cos d’Estournel, Domaine de Trévallon, Chave and more. He returned home inspired and excited to use his new-found knowledge on the family property in the early 1990s. But his father didn’t welcome Telmo’s ambition: the market didn’t want great or even good Rioja, he told his son – the market wanted cheap Rioja. Although he wasn’t allowed to make changes to the red, Rodríguez was given free rein to create the property’s first white wine. And that wine rocketed him to fame. White Rioja has always been niche (today just 9% of the vineyard area is planted to white grapes), but in the 1990s its future was looking uncertain – with the traditional, oxidised style of wines such as López de Heredia’s Tondonia Blanco fallen from grace, and many producers had given up on making these wines (as with CVNE’s Monopole Clásico, which has since been revived). Rodríguez wanted to create a wine of place, rather than a wine of style, and used complex field blends planted at higher altitudes to do so. Fermented and aged in a combination of tank and oak, Remelluri Blanco was unlike any other wine in the region. Robert Parker wrote of the 1996 vintage that it was “the finest white wine [he had] ever tasted from Spain”. The multi-variety blend doesn’t include the region’s trademark white, Viura, and is technically illegal – a fact that perhaps has only increased its appeal.  But Rodríguez was frustrated by his father, by the limitations put on him and his wines. Restless and with a rift in the family forming, he flew the coop to focus on his own project. In Bordeaux he had become friends with a fellow Spaniard, Pablo Eguzkiza, who had been working at Pétrus, and together they had already started making wine – beginning with an old-vine Garnacha from Navarra in 1994. With that wine, Compañía de Vinos Telmo Rodríguez was born.  Their vision was to make real Spanish wine – the wines that had been made before, as they saw it, France started to sway the industry. When the deadly louse phylloxera had swept through France in the late 19th century, killing its vineyards, the nation looked south, across the Pyrenees to Spain. Producers travelled there to make wine and feed demand, and Rioja in particular saw an influx of business and money – but this uplift also came with French influence. In Rodríguez’s view, this was the ruining of the trade – Rioja, which had once been a wine of site, became a wine of oak. And soon, across Spain, the variety that once defined its many regions was being over-written with international varieties. Spain became known for cheap wine – and producers were racing to the bottom.  “The worst are the British,” says Rodríguez. “They say they know Rioja and they know Sherry, but, in a certain way, the British market killed Sherry and killed Rioja because they are very happy to have a cheap Reserva for a few pounds.” The dominance of what he describes as “industrial brands”, the larger houses that buy in fruit from across the region, aged in American oak for “traditional” styles, and French for “modern”, is abhorrent to him.  “I’m sorry, you don’t know anything about Rioja. Tell me one village. Tell me one taste. Tell me one landscape. Tell me one mountain. Nobody knew anything,” he says. He explains how Labastida – a village neighbouring Remelluri – was once the Vosne-Romanée of Rioja, home to 330 different wine producers in 1680. But over the years, that history has been blended away.  Together, Rodríguez and Eguzkiza set out to uncover and reveal the Spain of yesteryear, working with old vines, native varieties and traditional methods to champion what they saw as the true Spanish wines. From their beginnings in Navarra, they looked to Arribes del Duero, to Rueda, to Málaga, to Aragon and back to Rioja, then Ribera, Toro and Sierra de Gredos.   “Now we are showing what is real,” Rodríguez tells me, with a sense of satisfaction. In Rioja, for example, they created Bodegas Lanzaga in 1998, looking to focus on the terroir around the town of Lanziego. The Consejo (regulatory body), however, didn’t allow them to use the name of a village on the label until 2017. For almost two decades they protested this rule, featuring the name on the label, but redacted (inspired in part by the art of Jenny Holzer). Today, there is a clear, and growing, movement of producers looking to focus on single-site expressions of Rioja’s best vineyards, shifting away from cross-regional blends and the dominance of oak. This echoes what is happening elsewhere in Spain, as producers focus on indigenous grapes and identifying what makes each of its varied regions unique. It’s a revolution – one that Rodríguez has been at the forefront of. It's easy to think of this rockstar duo as flying winemakers – having so many projects scattered around the country, only touching down briefly to sign off on blends before they’re off to their next event. While inevitably their schedule is intense, their focus is firmly in the vineyard and on reflecting each individual place and site – rather than crafting a range that speaks of their influence. “It’s a very honest approach to a place,” Rodríguez says. The references throughout our conversation only emphasise this: Burgundy, the ultimate “terroir” wine, is where he finds his inspiration; while the Super Tuscans are repeatedly scorned for their internationality.  Matallana is quite possibly Telmo Rodríguez’s most ambitious project to date. He and Eguzkiza first made wine in Ribera del Duero in 1998, and have slowly built up 21.5 hectares of vines around the region.  “My dream was to do a very good Vega Sicilia. I wanted to do the Vega Sicilia that I used to drink in the past,” explains Rodríguez, talking about bottles from the 1940s, ’50s or ’60s. Back then, he says, it wasn’t an estate wine but fruit was sourced from around the region. For him, Vega Sicilia is now too “Bordeaux-style”. He argues that while in Rioja the soils are quite consistent, Ribera del Duero is incredibly varied. They have chosen to work with a range of vineyards across five villages – Sotillo de la Ribera, Roa, Fuentecén, Fuentemolinos and Pardilla – ranging from quartz-rich or pebbly soils reminiscent of Châteauneuf-du-Pape to chalky albariza and clay-heavy sites. This diversity is what helps bring complexity to the wine, with each one producing a different expression of Tinto Fino.   The work involved in each of the Compañía de Vinos Telmo Rodríguez projects is painstaking, tracking down special parcels, reviving soils and replanting or grafting where necessary, working organically and biodynamically, to achieve the quality they’re looking for. For Bodegas Lanzaga, for example, it was over a decade before they produced the first vintage of their top wine, Las Beatas, from a 1.9-hectare plot of the same name (first made in 2011).  For Matallana, they wanted to track down the region’s very best, historic vineyards in each of the five villages. But it’s not been easy. All too often they’d been abandoned, some needed re-planting entirely, or otherwise re-grafting with massal selections, and serious work to bring the soils back to life. They wanted to work with unirrigated bush-vines and field blends – vineyards farmed as they might have been in the 19th century. And then there’s the complex ownership: to buy just six of their 21.5 hectares took seven years, purchasing tiny plots from 40 different families.  Although they’ve been making wine here since the 1999 vintage, it wasn’t ready until relatively recently – and Rodríguez considers the 2014 the first “real” vintage of the project. Before that point they had made three wines, a selection of fruit from the oldest vines that went into the “Grand Vin” Matallana, a second wine M2 and the unoaked Gazur from younger plots. “They were prototypes, we were learning,” explains Rodríguez. From 2014, there is only one wine, with a change in the label to reflect the shift.  As with the older vintages from Bodegas Lanzaga, the label shows a list of redacted vineyard names – which are still not permitted to feature on the labels in Ribera del Duero. “All those vineyards are the guarantee of the purity of our wines,” says Rodríguez. In fact, the label is embossed, so beneath the censored text, you can feel the names of these terroirs. He’s moved to reduce the oak, using some foudres and tinajas (amphorae), while also acknowledging that the wine needs movement and oxygen to polymerise the tannins. The result, however, is a more delicate wine. At the end of the day, he says, “We don’t care about the winery… our wine is the landscape, is the soils.” The difference between the “new” and “old” Matallana is striking. The 2020 is pure, vibrant – a mineral wine with crystalline fruit that speaks of place.  “I don’t want to be pretentious, but we want to create another iconic wine from Ribera del Duero,” says Rodríguez. There’s no shortage of ambition here – and they’re looking to increase production to around 40,000 bottles a year (up from around 25,000 currently). “It took us 25 years… but we knew we were doing something rare, different.” The latest move has been to partner with Jean-Guillaume Prats (currently of Ch. Léoville Las Cases, previously of Ch. Lafite Rothschild and Cos d’Estournel), and start distributing the wine via La Place de Bordeaux, to bring the wine to an even bigger audience.  Rodríguez is now 61 – but there’s no sign of him slowing down. “People say that I’m too old to plant vineyards,” he says, clearly finding such a thought absurd. He’s just planting three hectares he tells me – vineyards that will be amazing, he feels, maybe in 15 years’ time. On the day we talk, he had five local youths coming to meet his team, the children of local viticulturalists in Labastida; they’d be making wines together with the best 2,000 kilos from each of their family’s plots – a project that has been going four years. There’s no looking back from this vigneron, whose eyes are firmly on the horizon, as he continues to push boundaries and forge a future for those that will follow him.  Explore all wines from Telmo Rodríguez and Matallana or read more Editorial 

Telmo Rodríguez is one of Spain’s most famous names. Since the 1990s, he has been a controversial figure, fighting for the nation’s vinous heritage. We caught up with the relentless revolutionary to talk about his journey, the real Rioja and his most challenging project to date

Telmo Rodríguez is one of Spain’s most famous winemakers. We caught up with him to talk his journey and his most challenging project to date, Matallana

Telmo Rodriguez – the eternal battle

Telmo Rodríguez: the eternal battle

Bodegas Roda has always strived to be a modern force in Rioja – not dictated by tradition and the region’s strict requirements when it comes to ageing. The estate was founded as recently as 1987, by Mario Rotllánt Solá and Carmen Daurella de Aguilera, who enlisted the help of Rioja expert Agustín Santolaya. Since then it has quickly risen up the ranks and is today regarded as one of the region’s top producers.  From the start, their philosophy has been centred around sourcing the finest clones of Tempranillo. It has proven to be remarkably successful in producing very pure expressions of Rioja, not dominated by oak, but that also age beautifully. These wines are some of Spain’s most exciting, sitting amongst a cohort of producers dedicated to finding the true potential of the country’s indigenous grapes, with old vines and top terroirs. Only made in the best vintages, Cirsion is Bodegas Roda’s top wine – a wine that defies the notion that the best wines should see the longest oak maturation. On the contrary, Roda’s Cirsion sees the shortest time in oak of all its cuvées – just six to eight months, depending on the vintage. The wine was first made as an experiment in 1997, with just 3,000 bottles. The aim was to celebrate Tempranillo’s character by using fruit from only the oldest vines and best clones. Each vine would be individually assessed and picked at optimum ripeness. The result is a wine with seamless tannins and exceptional fruit purity. Cirsion’s appearance on the wine scene challenged the idea that highly concentrated Tempranillo required significant oak ageing to tame its astringent tannins. Roda proved that if the grapes are good enough, the fruit could shine without a cloaking of oak. Despite the shorter time in barrel, tasting through older vintages proves the wines’ ageability. Winemaker Agustín Santolaya remembers at the release of their first vintage that the critics found it so accessible they thought it wouldn’t age well. Tasting the 2004 today is proof they were wrong. The wine is still maturing, full of life and all the more complex for it, as the tertiary notes mingle with beautifully fresh fruit and fragrant heather notes. At the heart of the wine is a core of pristine fruit, something that is retained even with age. It is a wine of great purity and elegance. Tasting through older vintages of Cirsion shows how the balance and quality of fruit in a wine is essential, and sometimes more important than oak ageing, when it comes to producing red wines that will age effortlessly. Bodegas Roda wines 2004 Cirsion There is a real brightness to the 2004 and today it sits firmly in its drinking window, although the overall balance and concentration will see it hold here for some years yet. It has a really inviting nose of red aniseed and dark spice alongside more tertiary moss and forest floor notes. The fruit is on the darker black berry spectrum with vibrant acidity making it feel so lively on the palate. There is lovely volume and weight to the wine, the tannins now fully resolved and melded with the fruit. (100% Tempranillo, 14.5% alcohol) 2009 Cirsion A key principle of Cirsion’s philosophy is to show the imprint of the vintage, the wine made entirely from that vintage – not such a common practice in Rioja. This is abundantly clear when tasting the 2009 and 2010 side by side. As Santolaya admitted, the ‘09 is a lot more tannic and less resolved than both the ’10 and ’04 – likely, he believes, the result of water stress in what was a very warm and dry (Mediterranean) vintage. The ’09 is texturally layered with lots of lovely ripe fruit and still silken, but with a bitter twist on the finish. It is a less typical vintage for Cirsion and, versus the exceptional 2010, a little more ordinary, but still very good. (100% Tempranillo, 14.5% alcohol) 2010 Cirsion The 2010 today is still very youthful – but the balance is fantastic – the tannins are plentiful but silken, the wine full of energy, with mouth-watering acidity and a dense, coiled-spring-like tension to the palate. At 11 years of age, the tertiary flavours are only just beginning to show. It has years ahead of it and will be wonderful to taste with another five years in bottle. The 2010 really captures the Cirsion philosophy of fruit purity above all else. The 2010 has proved to be a great vintage for Roda all round. (100% Tempranillo, 14.5% alcohol) 2018 Cirsion The 2018 is the latest release and while its tannins are nicely ripe and resolute, tasting alongside the 2010, you feel Cirsion (despite its youthful approachability) really benefits from at least five to 10 years in bottle. Its puppy fat stage is still quite oak laden, but again, the refined tannins are impressive and rare to find in Tempranillo of this concentration and richness. It will no doubt blossom with more time in bottle. (90% Tempranillo and 10% Graciano, 14.5% alcohol) Browse all Roda listings or read more Editorial

Bodegas Roda has always done things a bit differently in Rioja. Their prestige cuvée Cirsion is a perfect example, proving the top wines of the region don’t have to be dominated by oak

Exploring how top Rioja doesn't always have to be dominated by oak, with Bodegas Roda and the perfect example of their prestige cuvée Cirsion 

Finding Tempranillo’s true potential

It’s 20 years since Eduardo Chadwick gathered some of Europe’s most famous wine writers for a blind tasting – one to rival the famous 1976 Judgement of Paris (when California proved its wines could compete with – and beat – France’s best). Chadwick was convinced that critics were underestimating Chilean wines – for no reason other than snobbery against the nation. The Berlin Tasting pitched Chadwick’s top wines (Viñedo Chadwick, Seña and Don Maximiano Founder’s Reserve) against Bordeaux’s First Growths and a lone Super Tuscan (Antinori’s Solaia). Chadwick charged the late Steven Spurrier with running the event. “I never imagined that what happened was about to happen,” Chadwick tells me. To his and everyone else’s amazement, the 2000 Viñedo Chadwick took the top spot, followed by 2001 Seña, then 2000 Ch. Lafite Rothschild, and 2000 Ch. Margaux – tied equally in fourth place with 2000 Seña. Finally, there was proof that Chile’s wines deserved a place on the world stage.  But, for Chadwick, one watershed moment wasn’t enough. He repeated the tasting, first in São Paulo, then Tokyo – and onward, hosting the same blind tasting 22 times around the world, all with similarly spectacular results for his wines. It takes nerves of steel – and a certain amount of ego – to be willing to risk repeating such a tasting, and yet Chadwick was justly rewarded. His campaign is just one way in which he has forged a path for fine, Chilean wine – with a relentless, dogged determination.  Chadwick is the fifth generation of his family to make wine in Chile. Don Maximiano Errázuriz emigrated from the Basque country and was the first to plant vines in the Aconcagua Valley in 1870. He identified the location, 100km north of Santiago, with its cool ocean breezes, hot summers and rainy winters, as perfect for growing grapes. Operating under the motto of, “from the best land, the best wine”, he planted vines in this idyllic site, near Panquehue, and built a winery – that still stands today.  Gradually, the business grew – and it became the largest vineyard in the world owned by an individual, with 1,300 hectares under vine at its peak in the late 19th century. Despite this early prosperity, Chile’s wine industry didn’t continue to thrive. There was no export market and domestic consumption (which reached up to 80 litres per capita annually) was slashed by severe taxation, while political and economic turbulence, with communist then military rule, put not just the industry, but nation, in crisis. By the early 1980s, wine was cheaper than water and around half of the nation’s vines were ripped out.  It was onto this unstable scene that Eduardo Chadwick arrived. He had initially trained as an industrial engineer before deciding to focus on wine instead, going to study in Bordeaux under the legendary oenologist Emile Peynaud. His father bought the family winery back from the banks, and Chadwick started dusting away the cobwebs, re-opening Viña Errázuriz and – armed with new, technical knowledge – made the first vintage of Don Maximiano Founder’s Reserve, the property’s flagship wine, in 1984. The operation was still rudimentary – with rauli vats (a native hardwood), no temperature control and pergola vines planted on the fertile flats – but it was an early indication of what was possible. Tasting the wine four decades later, it’s held up remarkably well – with surprising vibrancy on the nose and a chiselled, savoury profile of pure Cabernet Sauvignon.  Gradually, Chadwick invested in equipment – stainless steel tanks, modern presses and barrels – and started to plant vineyards on slopes with poorer soils. Alongside this shift, pivotal elections in 1989 saw Chile become a democracy once more – and key figures from the world of wine visited. Soon entry-level wines were being exported by the likes of Oddbins and Victoria Wine. The doors had opened for Chilean wine. Robert Mondavi visited Chadwick in 1991 – and the two men hit it off, sharing an unrelenting drive to push their industry forward, and Mondavi recognised in Chile the potential he had seen in Napa in the 1960s. He knew that his partnership with Ch. Mouton Rothschild (Opus One) had been key to changing Napa’s reputation – and the duo hoped that their own joint venture might do the same for Chile: Seña (literally meaning “signal”) was born. Bob’s son, Tim Mondavi worked with Chadwick on the project and suggested looking for a site closer to the coast in the Aconcagua Valley, in search of even greater finesse, producing the first vintage in 1995.  And Chadwick didn’t stop there. His father had purchased an estate in the Alto Maipo in 1945, home to a polo field (Eduardo’s father, Alfonso, had captained the Chilean team for years). In 1992, Chadwick convinced his father to let him transform the polo field – with its pure gravel soils and 15˚C diurnal swing – into a vineyard, feeling it was perfect for Cabernet Sauvignon. Alfonso died the following year, but the first vintage of this project – Viñedo Chadwick, named in honour of his father – was made in 1999.   Chadwick knew the wines were good – but convincing the world of that fact was the challenge. He’s clear that Chile made a major error in churning out great-value, entry-level wines – good, but not fine wines – a price-point that came to define the nation. “That’s why it was very difficult to convince the audience that we can also produce world-class wines,” says Chadwick. “Chile had no recognition. We had no ratings, no Parker points, no Suckling points.” And so he set about changing that with the Berlin Tasting.  With that event’s market-shifting results (then echoed around the world), he’d created momentum for change. A decade later, he went on to break through another boundary: the 2014 Viñedo Chadwick became the first Chilean wine to earn 100 points (from James Suckling). Just last year, the 2021 vintage was the first Chilean wine rated 100 points by the Wine Advocate. When I sat down with him March this year, it was at an event paying tribute to the two decades that have passed since the Berlin Tasting – featuring early vintages from each estate, and their greatest successes. The 1998 Seña was a particular standout – a cool vintage that today is perfumed, elegant, bright and effortlessly long. Any doubters of Chilean wine were instantly quieted. And, as with the Berlin tasting, the event was being replicated around the globe – the campaign to champion Chilean wine never ending.  When Chadwick started in 1983, Viña Errázuriz had just 10 hectares of vineyard. Today, across their estates, Chadwick farms 900 hectares of vines. He bought out his siblings years ago, when he found they were more interested in dividends than growing and investing in the business. Now three of his four daughters are working alongside him – excited by the potential of coastal sites (where they make the Las Pizarras wines) and a new sparkling project. There has been no shortage of challenges along the way, but they’ve only fuelled Chadwick’s relentless pursuit of recognition for Chile and its wines. “Where we are today is beyond my wildest dreams,” he tells me, and yet it’s only because of his tireless ambition that Chilean wine has made it to this point. Fortunately, it looks like his children have inherited his determination – ready to rule over the next chapter of this epic story.  Explore all listings of Viña Errázuriz, Seña and Viñedo Chadwick or read more about Chile 

In the last 40 years, Eduardo Chadwick has single-handedly forged a place for Chile in the fine wine arena. Two decades after the pivotal Berlin Tasting, Sophie Thorpe sat down with the man himself to explore his legacy – and what lies ahead 

20 years after the Berlin Tasting, we sit down with Eduardo Chadwick – the man that created Chile’s first icon wines, Sena, Vinedo Chadwick and Errazuriz

Championing Chile – Eduardo Chadwick

Championing Chile: Eduardo Chadwick

It will likely come as no surprise that our team entered en primeur week this year with a certain degree of trepidation. Ever since the 2023 growing season ended, the general press surrounding the vintage has largely focussed on the negative; absorbed with the struggles faced by the vignerons rather than the highlights. Bordeaux-bashing is a facile yet favourite pastime for some, and this has led to some collectors and even merchants pre-emptively dismissing the vintage out of hand – before the wines have even been tasted. The Bordeaux marketing machine, it must be said, should take its share of culpability for this attitude. Too often the hype surrounding solar vintages, with phrases such as “best ever” practically shouted from the rooftops, leaves both the press and collectors thinking that anything less than a string of superlatives means the new vintage is a dud. There is no room for middle ground or a happy medium. Enter 2023. We started our week in Saint-Estèphe – historically a tough place to make truly great wine in any but the most relaxed growing season. Starting with Calon Ségur, making our way through the range, culminating with the Grand Vin, it gradually dawned on us that these wines aren’t just good, aren’t just classic; they’re something else entirely. Our next visit, at Montrose, cemented this. It is certainly one of the vintage’s highlights and confirmed beyond any doubt that it was absolutely possible to make exceptional wine in 2023. Our full vintage report, due next week, will cover the ins and outs in more detail, but suffice to say that through our tastings across the Left Bank we found plenty to get excited about. A vintage in which Cabernet Sauvignon took the fore (at many châteaux it represents the highest ever proportion of the final blend), fans of Pauillac, Margaux, Saint-Julien et alia will find a great deal to like in the classical freshness of dark-berry fruit, spice, graphite and cedar aromas. In the best wines, this is balanced by a more modern palate of suave tannins, depth of flavour and elegant but plush-textured bodies, donated by the (largely unreported) warmth of the growing season. As for the Right Bank – having lived and worked in Saint-Emilion in my 20s, entering the town always feels a little like homecoming for me, but this year it was tinged with foreboding. Merlot had struggled on the Left Bank, and we were concerned as to what we would find on the other side of the river, where it is the dominant grape. I was therefore relieved and frankly delighted to discover that our fears were largely baseless. Throughout our tastings across properties in Pomerol and a few in Saint-Emilion (several of our team remain in Bordeaux and will visit more châteaux here on Monday), we actually found a higher level of homogeneity than on the Left Bank. Some strikingly beautiful wines have been made. Characterised by delicate floral and mineral aromatics, sensual tannins and pure, precise flavours, terroir really shone through in 2023. Many of the absolute highlights of the vintage can be found here – I left Cheval Blanc wondering which kidney I could sell in order to get my hands on some (a moot question as after 15-plus years in the industry, nobody would pay money for my kidneys). Lafleur was so special I don’t want to sully it with hyperbole. Anyone who tells you there were no great wines made in 2023 didn’t put in the effort to travel to the region and taste properly – it’s as simple as that. As to the market, there is no getting away from the fact that conditions are tough. Through our extensive conversations with the châteaux, we are relieved to confirm that they are well aware of this, and it is now all but confirmed that action will be taken in the form of significant price reductions. As was the case with the 2019 vintage, this is an exciting prospect for Bordeaux lovers. William Kelley neatly summarises this in his report, released just two days ago: “Word in Bordeaux was that the 2023s would be released at significantly lower prices than the region’s last three vintages. If that is so, consumers will have the opportunity to acquire exceptional wines for an attractive price.” With releases due to start as early as tomorrow (with Ch. Batailley), and with the First Growths and other top châteaux promising to lead the way and set the tone, there is little time for us to unwind the many mis-informed vintage pre-conceptions. I will therefore end by saying this – as is the case with all vintages, there will be triumphs, and missed opportunity for others. Some châteaux will listen to the market and release at reasonable prices, others will allow ego to dominate their decisions and make costly mistakes. All eyes are now on Bordeaux for what is undoubtedly a pivotal en primeur campaign. Our team is still furiously working on our full notes and report, the first part of which will be released next weekend. In the meantime, the campaign is set to start on Monday, and you can now pre-order or register to receive alerts for specific 2023 releases. 

Our team has spent the week in Bordeaux, getting to grips with the latest vintage to emerge from the region. Ahead of the first releases, Senior Key Account Manager Simon Brewster offers some early thoughts on the 2023s – and the prospects for the campaign 

Ahead of the release of the first Bordeaux 2023 wines, we offer some early thoughts on the vintage – as well as the prospects for this en primeur campaign

Bordeaux 2023 – first thoughts on the vintage

Bordeaux 2023: redefining “classic”

Spain didn’t know what we had or that we were able to make world-class wines…we are still not sure what we have, what we can do. It is a super exciting time. Just 15 years ago Spanish wine collectors just bought French and Italian wine, now today we have a real variety of fine wines coming from all over Spain.” But Spain’s history has been a little less than smooth. Whilst Spain might have the highest quantity of vines planted in the world it has one of the lowest consumption rates in Europe. This disconnect with its own produce is one of the reasons behind Spain’s slow uptake in a more qualitative approach to winemaking. 
Wine as nourishment: days of hardship Luis recalls his grandfather used to drink wine for nourishment. Following the struggles of civil war and dictatorship, most of the country lived under extreme hardship. A lack of fresh drinkable water meant wine would often be mixed with water. Wine offered the cheapest means to nutrient intake.  At this time there was also a huge disconnect with the wineries and grape growers in Spain. The wineries in Spain were operating at an industrial scale, producing masses of cheap wine. There was almost no relationship between growers and producers and no concept of quality, when quantity was the benchmark of economic viability. During this time, even these cooperative wineries struggled to survive.   The vignerons' relationships with herbicides is a good example of just how much things have changed in viticulture, not just in Spain but the whole of Europe, over the last century. During this difficult period, herbicides were the only viable way to produce wines under such economic hardship, and an educated workforce in the vineyard was a luxury most could not afford.  It was thanks to herbicides that the wine industry effectively survived through this period, despite its negative long-term consequences, acting as a poison to the soil. Luis contrasts this with today’s richer Spain where a qualitative approach has taken hold with a more long-term sustainable future in which herbicides are no longer necessary nor appreciated. The survival of the iconic wineries of Spain Despite the difficulties of the times, there were historic / iconic qualitative producers that existed throughout this period, iconic wineries of Vega Sicilia, Marques de Murrieta and Marques de Riscal for example. But according to Luis most of these survived simply because the wine production was not their main source of income.  These historic estates survived on incomes from elsewhere as landowners and property developers. Luis identifies how the 1925 Ygay Rioja was not bottled until 1964 and not released onto the market until 1973, stating this is not the sort of business plan that could sustain a business without other income! 
Spain reaches out to Europe in search for identity But when democracy arrived in Spain and the country became less isolated and wealthier, history of circumstance again stifled Spain’s wine industry. For many producers who looked
to Europe for inspiration chose to copy rather than invest in its own indigenous grapes varieties and traditional wines. Instead in regions like Navarra all the indigenous old vines were uprooted and French varieties of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah were planted. For those producers who took the qualitative approach Luis recalls how they took all the excesses of modern winemaking fashionable in the 1990s and threw them all at their wines with little reflection on the consequences. Picking grapes super ripe, over-extracting them, ageing them in 200% new oak. Whilst these wines hit the headlines in some respect, for Luis, it did little to recapture the essence or identity of Spanish wine. Luis states how some of the wines that are most praised today in Spain were unsaleable during this time. For instance Lopez de Heredia, one of the most traditional producers in Rioja, who never swayed under the pressure of fashion during this period and who continued to only ever release their Gran Reserva 20 years after harvest.  However, during the mid-90s, these wines were so out of fashion amongst Spanish wine drinkers and collectors they could barely sell a single bottle. Due to the economic restraint that this put on the winery they were forced to stop producing their flagship Gran Reserva from the mid-nineties. So today we have one of Spain’s now most celebrated and respected wineries unable to release their top cuvee, since they were not able to make the wine 20 years ago. Their last release of the Gran Reserva Red was the 1995 vintage, released in 2015. Their next release will be their 2001, due for release in 2021. Luis recalls a similar story with Vega Sicilia. Their much praised 1970 vintage remained unbottled at the winery for years, simply because there were no orders for it. Therefore, these wines became known for their super long élevage often remaining in barrel and tank for years due to lack of interest rather than for qualitative reasons! 
The global success of Rioja Rioja is an interesting anomaly in Spain’s fortunes as a region heavily influenced, first-hand, by Bordeaux. Following the outbreak of phylloxera in Bordeaux many Bordelais travelled south to Rioja to reestablish their wine businesses. They introduced the use of small oak barriques to mature the wine. Traditionally, Luis recounts, Rioja was made using carbonic maceration and no oak. The use of American oak became adopted, more likely due to its lower cost. This positive influence from France saw Rioja become a hugely successful brand in itself and an export success for Spain’s struggling wine industry. However, fast forward 100 years and now the “Rioja” brand is in some ways its biggest issue. This, Luis states, is a broader debate over how the DO classification system in Spain has become outdated. What was good for the region when it was initially created in 1926, is not good for it now. Back then Spain was poor and isolated. In order to create a wine for export it had to create an overall brand – Rioja.  “Everyone was on the same train” and “it was a way to open up markets”. But today the language of wine has changed. A similar issue has happened with Cava too. Luis states that wine from Rioja and Cava is not all the same and if there is wine of poor quality associated with that name then it can become a liability to a producer who is more focused on a qualitative approach. Not all wines are great under a DO, not all vineyards are the same quality. The DO now needs more differentiation. Luis looks to the Burgundy model as a guide. Here there is differentiation, something a collector can grasp and decipher. But it is not just “terroir” but also better winemaking. We discuss the comments made by Robert Parker who attacked producers for using the phrase “terroir” to hide what was effectively bad winemaking. Now there is so much more communication between
winegrowers, thanks first to the country being less isolated, but perhaps more importantly the world of information opening up thanks to the internet. Luis remembers winemakers he met in Spain who didn’t even know what malolactic fermentation was. They were just not educated on modern winemaking concepts and techniques. Today this is not the case and terroir has started to mean something more tangible than merely a distraction attributed to bad winemaking. Luis states “wine is so complex. We know so little about it but we have never been so connected and that has helped enormously in bringing confidence to winemakers in Spain, bringing courage for them to rediscover their own indigenous varieties and trust in their unique terroirs.” Spain’s Renaissance Spain in the last few years has become tremendously exciting as a fine wine region with great variety, seemingly from every corner of the country, rich with a sense of identity, authenticity and uniqueness. Asked what the catalyst was for this Luis believes it has been a gradual change over the last 25 years following Spain coming out of its political isolation. We are a result of our history.  “It created an inferiority complex that has been part of our DNA, especially the last 80 years, when Spain was an isolated country after a civil war. It took a long time to believe in ourselves. There was a tendency to think that the stuff around us was better than our own. Now we have a new generation of producers who have a belief that their indigenous varieties and their terroirs can produce wines as fine as anywhere else in the world." This Luis states has also been helped by consumers becoming more adventurous and open to discovering new regions, new styles. This quality revolution as “a phenomenon that has really accelerated in the last ten, and perhaps perceived globally in the last two.” Be in no doubt the top wines of Spain being produced today stand head to head with other fine wine regions around the world and deserve a place in everyone’s collection. Explore more Editorial 

We speak to one of the world’s leading wine critics, a specialist in Spanish wine, Luis Gutierrez about the cultural history of wine in Spain, the reasons behind today’s renaissance and why it has taken so long to arrive.

One of the world’s leading wine critics, Luis Gutierrez on the cultural history of Spanish wine and the reasons behind its renaissance 

Luis Gutierrez on the Spanish wine renaissance

The Spanish Renaissance: a rediscovery of its roots

Following on from the cooler, elegant 2018 vintage, 2019 is another excellent year for Napa – together forming an impressive duo that will be enjoyed (and inevitably compared) over the coming decades.  The preceding winter was wet, replenishing the water table and encouraging vigorous early growth. Indeed, as Danielle Aita at Colgin noted, it was still raining in May – with almost 2.5 inches that month (compared to 0.3 inches in 2018, and 0.61 in 2020). It was important for this vigour to be managed, for vines were at risk of growing more fruit than they could ripen. Aita explained how their team had to thin even more than normal, even thinning clusters by removing individual berries to maximise airflow.  A mild spring led to a warm and even summer, with few heat spikes, allowing producers to take their time to harvest, allowing for traditionally long hangtime. Although the season didn’t see the extremes of 2020 or 2022, the mercury did fluctuate, Kassidy Harris at Dominus noted – with a hot June, cooler July, then warmer end to the season. She noted how it required more intervention from the team in the vineyard, managing yield – particularly dropping “wings” or “shoulders” off clusters. This prolonged, relatively gentle heat, as the Dana team highlighted, mellowed the acidity and brought a roundness to the wines.   For Cathy Corison, it was “a fabulous vintage – almost perfect”, and one major factor was the even temperatures, with a significant diurnal shift that encouraged aromatic finesse and retained freshness. She reported temperatures in August that were 21-27˚C during the day, and dipping below 10˚C at night. With these gentle conditions, she picked later than normal, in the third week of September.  Maya Dalla Valle started picking around the same time, emphasising how it’s the last vintage she can remember being able to take her time with – the harvest stretching over several weeks rather than needing to get the fruit in as soon as possible. Aita highlighted how in early October, the temperature dropped significantly at night, slowing the ripening, and they picked in the second and third week of the month.   Temperatures were, on average, a little higher than 2018 – leading to a richer style, darker fruit profile and softer tannin structure – wines that are more classically Napa, compared to 2018’s slight Old World slant. They still, however, have a vibrancy and freshness, and while alcohol levels are higher than 2018, they are not elevated for the region, with almost all sitting below 15%. Volumes are generally good, thanks to that wet winter, a comfort given the low yields of 2020 and 2021.  As Corison noted, “When a vintage is perfect, it’s like falling off a log. Great grapes make great wine.” The winemaker’s job in a vintage like 2022, she says, is to “try not to mess it up”. Dalla Valle opted for shorter maceration times, finding the ripe, thick-skinned grapes offered tannin, colour and flavour quickly. She notes how the wines have filled out with time, offering a “quiet power” that she loves. For Harris at Dominus, it’s a very good vintage, but just an edge behind 2018, not quite as integrated in her view.  Will Harlan and Cory Empting at Promontory compare it to 1990, feeling it has more flesh and power versus 2018, needing time to reveal itself – “an old soul” of a vintage. For Aita at Colgin, the wines have minerality and real expression of place. They are much more approachable than 2018 in their youth, yet have everything needed to go the distance.  The critics all agree that it’s another very good vintage, but are divided as to whether they prefer 2018 or 2019. For Vinous’s Antonio Galloni, the 2019s are “big, bold wines that show the extroverted side of Napa Valley”. He feels it doesn’t quite have the consistency of a truly great year, such as 2018, with that vintage also offering a little more freshness that he prefers.   Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW (then still writing for the Wine Advocate) finds 2019 “classic, ripe, plush and beautifully expressive”, feeling – unlike Galloni – that it is more consistent than 2018, both in quality and volumes. For her, the 2018s are more structured with higher acidity, and may well age longer than the 2019s, however the 2019s have a generosity that is more typically Napa – and possibly more inviting.  For Jeb Dunnuck, it’s "another terrific year“ for Napa – “ripe, supple tannins, beautiful sweetness of fruit, and undeniably delicious”. He argues that it is clearly an excellent vintage, but doesn’t quite reach the levels of 2016 or 2013. The vintage in brief A wet winter and long, gentle growing season without major heat spikes High yields and quality, with a prolonged harvest period Warmer than 2018 producing richer wines with darker fruit and softer tannins Wines that are classical Napa Polished and plush, yet with freshness and alcohol levels generally sitting below 15%  Browse all 2019 Napa listings or read more about California

The 2019 vintage in Napa produced a brace of fantastic wines that are classical expressions of California’s heartland. We talk to top producers about the year and the style of wines it produced

Discover the 2019 Napa wines – talking to top producers about a plush and polished vintage, full of classically styled wines for the region

Napa 2019 vintage report

Napa 2019: plush and polished

When a red blend from Chile became the first wine from outside Bordeaux to be offered on La Place in 1998, it no doubt ruffled a few feathers. Could the New World, let alone South America, ever rival the quality of wines being made in Bordeaux? In the late 1990s, the answer was frankly no. Today, however, the fine wine market is keeping its eye on Chile’s leading estates with good reason. Not because they can rival Bordeaux in style, but because Chile’s winemakers are defining a style all of their own and discovering the potential of their top terroirs.  Gone are the days of overripe fruit, heavy-handed oak and 15% alcohol wines which dominated the scene during the height of Robert Parker’s influence in the early 2000s. Today vintners are focusing on making chiselled and elegant reds, as a result of much earlier harvesting and more restraint in the cellar – but, most importantly, these wines are all about balancing the freshness and nuance of their mountain terrains with the vibrant fruit profile and fine tannins these sunny lands offer. In the past decade, thousands of soil pits have been dug across Chile’s wine regions as winemakers get under the skin of their Chilean DNA — an endeavour well worth the effort as recent vintages show. Here are the regions at the forefront today.  Alto Maipo  It’s no coincidence that Château Mouton Rothschild’s Chilean venture with Concha y Toro, Almaviva in Alto Maipo, was the first non-Bordeaux wine to reach La Place. Maipo had been at the heart of Chile’s great Bordeaux imitation game since the 19th century, and on paper, Alto Maipo has a lot in common with Bordeaux: the same red varieties planted on similar gravels of river terraces.    Today, however, the best wines – including Almaviva and Viñedo Chadwick – focus on what makes Alto Maipo Cabernet Sauvignon and blends distinctive. In high-altitude Puente Alto in particular, the purity of the Andean sunlight at over 700 metres’ altitude offers a flamboyance of cassis and blackcurrant aromas, while cool mountain nights revive the grapes, giving the wines tension, filigree tannins and fragrant wild herb aromas. It’s this seductive combination which marks Alto Maipo as a Grand Cru of Chile.  Aconcagua  Further north, the Chadwick family has been making bold wines from valley floor vineyards in the warm Mediterranean climate of Aconcagua for over a century. Since the 1990s, however, they have been planting on the slopes and the more interesting colluvial soils found in the Andes foothills and towards the coastal mountain range.  Their iconic Seña blend, which originated as a collaboration with Robert Mondavi in 1995, has become increasingly refined under the hand of Chilean winemaker Francisco Beattig in recent vintages. Select plots of mainly Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec are synthesised into a balanced wine of 13.5% which prioritises harmony over power and carries graphite, cedar and blackberry aromas, trademarks of contemporary Aconcagua wines.  Apalta  One of Chile’s few DOs reflecting a place rather than a political region, the hill of Apalta has become world-renowned as one of the country’s best terroirs, with some of the best-known estates in Chile. Lapostolle, the biodynamic estate of the Bournet Lapostolle family, has been instrumental in developing the reputation and character of Apalta wines.  The key to Apalta today, and their iconic Clos Apalta property is the unique microclimate and kaleidoscopic palate of profiles the winemaker can draw from on this diverse hill site in Colchagua – from rich old-vine Cabernet Sauvignon on the clay soils of the valley floor, to the linear Merlot and peppery Carménère from Apalta’s southeast-facing granite slopes. These complex blends with black cherry and black pepper aromas, a full body and silky finish have become highly sought-after trademarks of Apalta wines today.  Chile’s winemakers are increasingly site-specific in their quest to show the potential of their unique country, with new and exciting vineyards being planted from the limestone-encrusted soils on the coast of the Atacama Desert down to the volcanic slopes of Osorno in Chilean Patagonia. And while there are no doubt many more Grands Crus in the making in Chile, those that have risen to the fore in the fine wine market today show precision, focus and a far greater self-understanding and appreciation than ever before.  Explore all current Chilean wine listings or read more Editorial 

Chile’s most iconic wines have come a long way in the last decade. With producers increasingly focusing on expressing site rather than creating a particular style, a handful of areas are emerging as the country’s Grands Crus, as Amanda Barnes reveals

Chile’s most iconic wines have come a long way in the last decade. We explore the region and producers such as Clos Apalta, Almaviva, Chadwick and more

Chile's Grand Cru wines explained

Chile's Grands Crus explained

Rioja Alta

Rioja

Spain

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The lowest price you're willing to sell at. If the net price goes below this value your listing will be removed.

shows all the items that you have pre-ordered, including en primeur wines, and all the items on your watchlist.

Futures

You can set a floor price on items you're selling based on a % of current unit net value.

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Local delivery is free for orders over HK$5,000 (to a single location). For orders below this value, delivery is HK$300 for up to four cases and HK$50 per case thereafter.

You can arrange collection from our Retail store on 22nd Floor, 8 Wyndham Street, Central Hong Kong.
Collection times are between 9:30am-13:00 and 14:00-18:00pm, Monday to Friday. We are closed on public holidays.

represents all the wines you currently have in your Portfolio that aren't stored with us. Press the

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shows all the items from your Portfolio that are currently on the market.

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shows all the items you currently have in your Portfolio. You can perform individual actions on them from this page.

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shows any items that are currently awaiting user action.

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This is the dynamic market price of the item with trading margin removed.

Pre-authorised payments enable automatic transactions on your behalf, ensuring seamless and hassle-free payments. This allows recurring charges, subscriptions, or scheduled payments to be processed without manual approval each time.

The number of cases you wish to place on sale

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Before you request delivery, you can adjust the quantity for each item in your selection below.

*Market price is dynamic and may change. At time of sale a 10% trading fee will be deducted from the final sale price.

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This item is at FINE+RARE, available for storage, transfer or delivery.
 Most UK deliveries can be made within 3-5 working days, with next day delivery for London;
 an exact date will be available when arranging delivery.
 International deliveries have longer lead-times, please contact us for details.

This item is at FINE+RARE HOME Hong Kong, available for delivery or local pickup. Most Hong Kong deliveries can be made within 3 working days, an exact date will be available when arranging delivery. International deliveries have longer lead-times, please contact us for details.

Wines sold en primeur will be released from the producer after bottling, typically 18 months after the so-called campaign ends. Your wine will then be stored by FINE+RARE in a bonded warehouse until you decide to take delivery.

We will source this item from our network of suppliers and arrange shipment to FINE+RARE.
 The lead-time depends on many variables, but 6-12 weeks is an average estimate.
 Once your order is confirmed, we'll keep you updated on its ETA.
 Every item is checked on arrival by our expert team, with photographs available on request (please note that charges may apply).

Rioja Alta

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