Maquis Viola 2014
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Robert
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James
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Product Details
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Viola is produced from the fruit of the very best vineyards on the Maquis estate. The tiniest grapes from these vineyards are concentrated and yield silky tannins with the greatest depth and complexity.
The skills of their viticulturist, Xavier Choné, and their blenders, Jacques and Eric Boissenot, are clearly apparent in this balanced and elegant blend. The spices, black fruit and smooth texture of the Carménère, the principal component of the blend, are complemented by the extraordinary finesse and length on the palate by the Cabernet Franc.
Blend: 85% Carménère, 15% Cabernet Franc.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2014 Viola is Carménère with 12% Cabernet Franc blended in. It was sourced from a cooler part of the Maquis vineyards planted in 1997. They want to avoid green and overripe aromas and flavors and look for red fruit and floral notes, which they find comes naturally from this specific plot. The wine is blended after malolactic and then is put in French oak barrels to mature for 24 months. It has lots of Carménère varietal characteristics—in aromas, flavors and texture. It's somewhat herbal but more on the spicy side. It's elegant and fresh. Very good indeed.
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Tasting Panel
This variety is at its best here, setting forth a generous, energetic flow of white pepper, Italian herbs, and jammy blackberry notes doused with chocolate and licorice. With some Cab Franc blended in, it is a seasoned showpiece—big, rich, and built with earth and iron.
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James Suckling
Although this is quite mature on the nose with redcurrant-jelly, blackcurrant-pastille and dried-herb aromas, there’s a nice tannin structure with a long, crisp and fresh finish.
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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.
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.