Clos Apalta 1997
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Product Details
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
The color of the Clos Apalta is intense and the density is readily apparent. The bouquet provides an explosion of red fruit, blackberry, black cherry and vibrant notes of raspeberry. The oak aging contributes a toasted vanilla and balsamic-like element in the nose. Then, instead of dispersing, all the scents blend together to give greater complexity, precious wood and cedar notes. On the palate, the first impression is density and volume. The wine is round, full and very concentrated. Slowly, a gentle tannic structure appears which provides the wine with a solid and well-structured character. The finish is long, velvety and silky.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This is the first vintage of this wine and shows phenomenal depth and power. Full body, chewy and focused. Tannic yet polished. Love the chocolate and currant flavors. A blend of 95% merlot/carmenere and 5% cabernet sauvignon.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
One thousand, eight hundred cases of this extraordinary wine were produced from the oldest (50 years average age) non-irrigated vines controlled by Casa Lapostolle. The blend of 95% Merlot and 5% Carmenere, aged in 100% new French oak casks, and bottled with neither fining nor filtration, is a triumph in wine making. Yields were kept to a conservative 40 hectoliters per hectare, resulting in an opaque purple-colored wine with an exquisite nose of black cherry, blackberry, and creme de cassis fruit intertwined with subtle toasty oak and lead pencil. Full-bodied, with an opulent texture, sensational concentration, and layered nuances, this wine will have 10-15 years of longevity, although its fatness and low acidity give it immediate accessibility. This superb wine is a tour de force. Not surprisingly, the consulting winemaker was Pomerol's brilliant Michel Rolland. Anticipated maturity: now-2015. This wine is scheduled to be released in the United States on May 1. This wine may appear expensive vis a vis the run of the mill juice coming out of Chile, but in today's marketplace, this effort are sensibly priced. Serious wine tasters should give it a try.
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Wine Spectator
This showstopper has all the bells and whistles: deep color, lavish oak, concentrated ripe fruit, power and harmony in a polished package. The boysenberry, chocolate and licorice flavors are voluptuous and velvety; the wine has elegance to match its power. It's hard to find Chile in its character, but easy to take pleasure in the result. Merlot, Carmenère and Cabernet Sauvignon.
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Everything starts in 1994 when Alexandra Marnier Lapostolle and her husband Cyril de Bournet first arrived in Chile’s Colchagua Valley. They quickly realized its potential for producing world-class wines. This ideal setting, which was revitalized in 1995, was home to vines originating from pre-phylloxera rootstock brought from Bordeaux in the middle of XIX century. Member of a renowned family that has been dedicated for several generations to the production of high-quality spirits and wines, Alexandra with legendary wine expertise, brought exceptional French winemaking practices to Chile and pioneered the development of fine quality wines from the region. Today it is Charles de Bournet Marnier Lapostolle, seventh generation of the family, who holds the reins of the Winery. Together with him is Jacques Begarie, Technical Director & Winemaker, under the advice of the famous winemaker Michel Rolland, who is personally involved in the whole production of Clos Apalta. In its short history, Clos Apalta wines have consistently ranked highly (90+ points) among reputable wine trade publications, a testament of the rigorous standards implemented at the winery to produce outstanding wines. Clos Apalta's philosophy is as simple as it is ambitious: to express terroir in the wines, looking for excellence, elegance and character in a handcrafted wine that can talk about the amazing place that is the Apalta Valley.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
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.