Almaviva 2019

Almaviva is a premium wine produced in Chile's Maipo Valley, one of the country's most renowned wine regions. The wine is a joint venture between the French owner of Château Mouton Rothschild, Baroness Philippine de Rothschild, and Chile's Concha y Toro. The first vintage of Almaviva was produced in 1996.  Even though the Baroness passed away on August 23, 2014, her three children continue investing in this project, which has since gained a reputation as one of Chile's finest wines.

Almaviva is a blend of classic Bordeaux grape varieties, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenere, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Petit Verdot. The wine is aged in French oak barrels for around 18 months before bottling. The resulting wine is rich, complex, and elegant, with a deep ruby color and aromas of black fruits, spices, and vanilla.

Almaviva is considered a wine for special occasions and is highly sought after by collectors and connoisseurs. The wine has received numerous awards and accolades, including a 100-point rating from the influential wine critic Robert Parker.

HISTORY

In 1997, Baroness Philippine de Rothschild, owner of Mouton Rothschild, and Eduardo Guilisasti Tagle, owner of Viña Concha y Toro, entered into a partnership to create an exceptional Franco-Chilean wine called Almaviva.

The name Almaviva has a Hispanic sonority.  It actually belongs to classical French literature: Count Almaviva is the hero of The Marriage of Figaro, the famous play by Beaumarchais (1732-1799), later turned into an opera by the genius of Mozart.  The label bearing the name Almaviva is in Beaumarchais’ own handwriting.

Though not claimed by the owners, the referral to a play reminds a curiously minded observer of the successful theatrical career left behind by the Baroness Philippine de Rothschild to assume leadership at her father's business when he died.  Her stewardship of the venerable Bordeaux estate plus her success in breaking new grounds led her to be made an Officier of the Légion d'Honneur in 2007.  In 2013, she was given a lifetime achievement award by the Institute of Masters of Wine.

Almaviva was intentionally chosen to pay homage to Chile’s ancestral history, with three reproductions of a stylized design, which symbolizes the vision of the earth and the cosmos in the Mapuche civilization. The design appears on the kultrun, a ritual drum used by the Mapuche.  Two great traditions thus join hands to offer the whole world a promise of pleasure and excellence.

"The 2019 Almaviva is a blend of 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Carmenère (from Peumo), 5% Cabernet Franc, 3% Petit Verdot and 1% Merlot, higher in Carmenere and reflecting a warmer and drier vintage when then bottled wine reached 15% alcohol. It fermented with destemmed grapes in stainless steel and matured in French oak barrels, 75% of them new, for 18 months. Here, the Carmenere adds herbal freshness and changes the aromatic profile when compared with the 2019 Epu. 2019 was a good year for Carmenere, which suffers in extremely warm years like 2017, but in moderately warm years like 2019, the variety displays that herbal character and has good density. It's full-bodied and round, with saturated tannins, tasty, spicy and long, with a dry, serious finish. It's balsamic, with notes of camphor and a silky and velvety texture. 200,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in January 2021." - Luis Gutiérrez, The Wine Advocate (8/31/2021, Issue 256), Ratings: 95+, Drink: 2021-2030