Maquis Gran Reserva Carmenere 2019
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Suckling
James -
Spectator
Wine
Product Details
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
With an expressive nose containing hints of laurel, spicy clove and a pleasant note of rosemary, this wine also exudes a layer of deep red fruits. On the palate, it’s fresh, with sweet tannins and a full-bodied flavor that ends in a lovely, lingering finish.
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
The 2019 Carménère Gran Reserva contains a 3% dash of Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% of Petit Verdot from Palmilla, Colchagua, and was aged for 12 months in barrels. Dark garnet in hue. The nose presents notes of jalapeño, mint, and ripe plum and blackberry alongside mild pencil box aromas. Smooth in the mouth with a bold expression; the mild freshness balances out the volume and gentle flow of the wine.
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James Suckling
Aromas and flavors of green olives, redcurrants and spices, wrapped by firm, fresh tannins in the fluent, medium-bodied center-palate. Well balanced.
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Wine Spectator
Floral aromas join toasted vanilla bean and peppercorn notes in this suave rendition, with a fleshy core of black cherry and plum. Picks up mineral and black tea details around firming tannins. Drink now.
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The Hurtado family has owned the Viña Maquis vineyard for more than a century, but it wasn’t until almost 20 years ago that the family decided to make their own wine out of the terrific grapes in their own backyard. They built a state-of-the-art gravity flow winery and set out to make the Maquis winery one of the great properties in all of South America.
Located in Colchagua Valley, the winery’s focus is on distinctive single-vineyard, estate wines, as well as producing “balanced” wines that are not over-ripe (resulting in excessively high alcohol) but also not exhibiting any of the “green” character that sometimes plagues wines picked from grapes that have not fully matured. The Maquis main vineyard is essentially an island: it is deeply influenced by the Tinguiririca River on one side and the Chimbarongo Creek on the other. These two large waterways once brought alluvial sediment from the Andes and today act as pathways for cool coastal breezes that help moderate the warm Colchagua summers, contributing to the intensity, character, fruitiness and mineral elements of the Maquis wines. Maquis is fortunate to have such a privileged location.
Dark, full-bodied and herbaceous with a spicy kick, Carménère found great success with its move to Chile in the mid-19th century. However, the variety went a bit undercover until 1994 when many plantings previously thought to be Merlot, were profiled as Carménère. Somm Secret— Carménère is both a progeny and a great-grandchild of the similarly flavored Cabernet Franc.
Well-regarded for intense and exceptionally high quality red wines, the Colchagua Valley is situated in the southern part of Chile’s Rapel Valley, with many of the best vineyards lying in the foothills of the Coastal Range.
Heavy French investment and cutting-edge technology in both the vineyard and the winery has been a boon to the local viticultural industry, which already laid claim to ancient vines and a textbook Mediterranean climate.
The warm, dry growing season in the Colchagua Valley favors robust reds made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenère, Malbec and Syrah—in fact, some of Chile’s very best are made here. A small amount of good white wine is produced from Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.