Wine & Spirits - Winter 2016 - 90

TOP 100 WINERIES 2016

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A CONCAGUA

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M AIPO V ALLEY

Concha y Toro

Errázuriz
Founded: 1870
Winemaker: Francisco Baettig
Founded: XXXX
Viticulturist: Jorge Figueroa
Owner/winemaker/viticulturist:
Owner: Eduardo Chadwick
XXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXX
Acres owned: 1,100
Acres owned: XXX
Annual production:
Cases produced: XXXXXX
500,000 cases
Estate grown: 100%
Estate grown: 80%
Importer: Xxxxx Xxxxx, Xxxxx, XX
Importer: Vintus, Pleasantville, NY
Website: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
Website: errazuriz.com

Ignacio
Xxxxxxx
Recabarren
Xxxxxx

Francisco
Xxxxxxx Xxxxxx
Baettig
The valleys of Casablanca, San Antonio and Limarí may have attracted the
most attention for coastal wines in Chile, but Errázuriz proves with its latest
wines that Aconcagua's far-coast vineyards can also produce delicious, terroirdriven wines.
Expanding Horizons: By the second half of the 19th century, most of
Chile's large wineries had settled around Santiago, the country's capital. However, Maximiano Errázuriz chose to plant vineyards in the
north, in the Aconcagua Valley. Today Eduardo Chadwick, the fifth
generation of the family to run the winery, has expanded the firm's
view of Aconcagua, from the original vineyards in the warm center
of the valley toward the cooler coast. These new vineyards, planted
in varied schist and granite soils on rolling hills near the sea, produce
some of the most impressive wines we have tasted from Chile.
Capturing Freshness: The vineyard focus is not all that's changed.
In the winery, Francisco Baettig, head winemaker since 2003, has
greatly reduced the use of new wood and started picking fruit earlier, allowing his wines to clearly show the influence of the sea. Take,
for example, the bracingly fresh, saline 2015 Aconcagua Costa Sauvignon Blanc, from the granitic soils of the Manzanar vineyard,
planted in 2005 seven miles from the Pacific. Or try the
2013 Aconcagua Costa Syrah. Errázuriz was one of the first
in Chile to focus on syrah, planting vines in the Don Maximiano vineyard in the middle of the valley in the early
1990s. It has since moved syrah closer to the ocean, and
Baettig captures the freshness of the climate in the 2013, a
bright, mineral-rich red full of black currant and spice.
New Classics: Errázuriz hasn't abandoned its inland
vineyards, but it's shifted their focus, planting them
to Mediterranean varieties, such as garnacha, mataro
and carignan. In 2013, Baettig combined this fruit
with cool-climate syrah from Manzanar, creating a red
with sweet, spiced cherry and strawberry flavor that
shines within a generous yet firm texture. In the past,
Errázuriz helped define classic Chilean cabernet. Its
latest releases suggest that it's are well on the way to
forging a new identity for the country's wines. -P.T.

TOP-SCORING WINES

Founded: 1883
Winemakers:
Founded: XXXXIgnacio Recabarren,
Marcelo
Papa and Enrique Tirado
Owner/winemaker/viticulturist:
Viticulturist:
Andrés Larraín Sta. María
XXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXX
Owners:
Publically-traded
company
Acres owned: XXX
Acres
owned:
19,881
Cases produced: XXXXXX
Annual
production:
Estate grown:
100%
15,100,000
cases
Importer: Xxxxx
Xxxxx, Xxxxx, XX
Estate:
(Casillero & above)
Website:55%
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
Importer: Excelsior Wine & Spirits,
Old Brookville, NY
Website: conchaytoro.com

From Chile's arid north deep into its cold, rainy south, Concha y Toro has nearly
20,000 acres of vineyards. Add to that a talented winemaking team, and the
result is one of the country's most diverse and compelling wine portfolios.
Cabernet Foundations: Founded in 1883 by Melchor Concha y Toro,
this winery began in the Maipo Valley, on the outskirts of Santiago. It
went public in 1933, and began to take its current shape in the 1980s,
when Eduardo Guilisasti, Sr., a board member, pushed the company
to expand beyond the Maipo, believing that a wider selection of vineyards would improve the quality of its portfolio. Today, with vineyards in almost every wine region in Chile, Concha y Toro produces
cabernets that define contemporary Chilean wine, like Don Melchor,
from vines planted in the 1970s on the north bank of the Maipo. The
2012-the 25th vintage-is firm yet generous, with waves of black
fruit flavor, the structure strong enough to support time in the cellar.
By the River: As part of Guilisasti's vineyard expansion, Concha y Toro
planted an extensive vineyard in Peumo, in the Cachapoal Valley, 60
miles south of the Maipo. It's particularly well suited to carmenère,
a late-ripening Bordelais variety that benefits from the site's generous sun and the cooling breezes the river carries in from the Pacific,
sustaining the freshness of the fruit. Today, the carmenère
growing on these clay hillsides and riverside alluvial soils
gives some of Concha y Toro's best wines-especially
Block 27, planted in 1990. Winemaker Ignacio Recabarren
crafted a vibrant, refreshing 2014 Terrunyo Block 27 Lot
No. 1 Carmenère, with tannins that are mellow yet firm
enough to sustain the wine for a decade in the cellar.
Syrah Rising: While some of Concha y Toro's most
famous wines are its cabernets from Maipo, Enrique
Tirado, the winemaker behind Don Melchor, decided
to experiment with syrah. From a gravelly vineyard
along the Maipo's southern bank, he now makes Gravas del Maipo Quinta de Maipo Vineyard Syrah. The
2014 is intensely ripe, its sweet red fruit and spice
held firm by dense tannins-a new and different take
on a classical region of Chile. -P.T.

TOP-SCORING WINES

XX '15
94
'XX Aconcagua
Xxxxxxxx Xxxxxxx
Costa Sauvignon
Xxxxx $XX Blanc
(XX/XX)$25 (6/16)

94
XX '14
'XXCachapoal
Xxxxxxxx Xxxxxxx
TerrunyoXxxxx
Peumo
$XX
Bl(XX/XX)
27 Lot 1 Carmenère $40 (6/16)

XX '13
94
'XX Aconcagua
Xxxxxxxx Xxxxxxx
Costa Syrah
Xxxxx$25
$XX(2/16)
(XX/XX)

93
XX '14
'XXBuin
Xxxxxxxx
Gravas
Xxxxxxx
del Maipo
Xxxxx
Qta.
$XX
de(XX/XX)
Maipo Vyd. Syrah $125 (6/16)

XX '13
94
'XX Aconcagua
Xxxxxxxx Xxxxxxx
Valley The
Xxxxx
Blend
$XXCollection
(XX/XX) Red $45 (6/16)

92
XX '12
'XXPuente
Xxxxxxxx
AltoXxxxxxx
Don Melchor
Xxxxx Puente
$XX (XX/XX)
Alto Cabernet $125 (6/16)

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http://www.errazuriz.com http://www.conchaytoro.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - Winter 2016