A benchmark Chilean icon of remarkable depth and precision. The nose is layered with blackcurrant, floral notes, graphite, and iodine, revealing classic Bordeaux elegance with an Andean signature. The palate is medium to full-bodied, tightly structured and youthful, with firm, polished tannins and immense concentration beneath its reserved exterior. Powerful yet refined, this wine unfolds slowly, rewarding patience with extraordinary complexity, energy, and length. A monumental vintage built for long-term ageing, with its full potential emerging from 2025 onwards. James Suckling | JS 100Published: Sep 2, 2022 Blackcurrant, flower, lead-pencil, and iodine aromas. Medium to full body with firm, polished tannins. Very young and solid. Reserved now, yet if you dig down deep on the palate it shows so much. There’s so much beneath it all. Give it time. The incredible depth and structure is all there. It was our Wine of the Year in 2018. 69% cabernet sauvignon, 24% carmenere, 5% cabernet franc and 2% petit verdot. Try after 2025 or later. Decanter | D 96Published: Jun 18, 2017Drink: 2020-2035 This latest release has 2% of Petit Verdot, adding a dash of dark pepper spice. It's a lovely wine, structured, intense but not tight, and beautifully balanced. There are some great liquorice and soft berry spice flavours, with notes of dark chocolate, cinnamon and sage. It has soft, smooth tannins which lend a supple texture to the wine. This gets better and better in the glass and has a freshness and grip that suggests great ageing potential.Closure: Natural CorkAlcohol: 15.00%Body: FullOak: OakedGrapes: 5% Cabernet Franc 69% Cabernet Sauvignon 24% Carménère The Wine Advocate | RP 92Published: Mar 13, 2025Drink: 2018-2028 The 2015 Almaviva wears the heat of the vintage on its sleeve, leading with a warm, pointed nose of candied red fruits, dark spices, raspberry liqueur and toasted oak. The palate is opulent and concentrated, finishing with sweet, luscious fruits and a bit of alcoholic heat framed by drying tannins. While it is by no means over the top, it comes off a bit monotone compared to more nuanced harvests like 2010 and 2016 or more recent vintages in which the style at Almaviva underwent substantial refinement. I have trouble imagining this substantially improving in the cellar and feel it is best consumed in the near future. I had the pleasure of tasting three decades of Almaviva at the winery with Technical Director Michel Friou and CEO Manuel Louzada, supplemented with additional vintages at my home office. As I discovered with several renowned producers in Alto Maipo, recent advancements in aesthetic vision, age-worthiness and overall harmony are quite evident. A noticeable shift began with the 2018 vintage, where ripeness, extraction and oak integration experienced significant refinement that continues to this day.To summarize the vertical, I found 2018 to be the most complete and nuanced iteration to date, with 2021 close behind it. The harvests of 2022 and 2019 both produced stellar wines, albeit with slightly more drying tannins and more assertive personalities. The 2016 and 2010 both offer the aromatic complexity and understated qualities of cooler vintages and sharply juxtapose the more flamboyant 2015. Although a bit past its prime, the inaugural 1996 vintage was charming and informative, while the 2003 showed just how far Almaviva has come in updating its viticulture and winemaking practices. Jancis Robinson | JR 17.5Published: Sep 14, 2017Drink: 2020-2035 69% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Carmenère, 5% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot.Tremendous richness and plushness to this. Excellent fruit intensity, which isn't just generic black fruit but has nuance and detail. Far more satisfying than plenty of Bordeaux 2015s! (RH) Almavivawinery.comAlmaviva 2015 is 1st in James Suckling's ranking .James Suckling, one of the most influential wine critics in the world, spent some time in Chile and Argentina during April of this year to create his 'The 100 Best Wines of the Andes' list. It is in this ranking that Almaviva 2015 took the first place amongst more than 1.800 wines, standing out for its depth and energy and considered as a benchmark for the reds of The Andes by Suckling himself. Suckling's previous report, titled 'The Time for Chilean Wine is Now', gave a perfect score to Almaviva 2015, it described it as 'glorious and complex,' a reward for the focus on harmony and precision of this wine. The perfect score and this new recognition are a pride for the team of the successful Franco-Chilean joint venture.
