Almaviva 2021 2021

Almaviva 2021 is one of the most acclaimed editions of this iconic Chilean wine, a partnership between Baron Philippe de Rothschild and Concha y Toro. The vintage is described as exceptionally elegant, marked by a cooler year that produced wines of greater finesse and freshness than previous years.

James Suckling: A fresh, understated Almaviva, with subtle aromas of pencil shavings and cigar box, alongside cassis and touches of chocolate with pepper and mint. Nuances and subtleties on the nose. Medium-bodied, it's also subtle on the palate, with silky tannins and a perfectly integrated finish. Very long. 71% cabernet sauvignon, 22% carmenere, 5% cabernet franc and 2% petit verdot. You can enjoy it now, but it will take time to reach its full complexity.

The Wine Advocate: 2021 was a generally cooler year than 2020, producing more elegant wines with greater refinement and less angular tannins. The refined 2021 Almaviva is a good example, still very young and marked by oak after 20 months in French oak barrels, 71% new and the rest second-use. The final blend was 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Carmenere (from Peumo), 5% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot, a variety that may gain a larger share in future, as they have planted more of it to possibly replace Merlot in the medium or long term. It's not a shy wine, reaching 15% alcohol, with soft acidity (4.65 grams of tartaric acid) and a pH of 3.81. The fruit is dark, ripe and spicy, with no green traces; it's a little withdrawn, less expressive than the warmer years at first, but with potential to evolve in bottle. The tannins are still present, and it should benefit from more time in bottle. The 2019 had more volume than the 2018, and the 2020 is closer to the 2019 than to the 2018. 200,000 bottles were produced, bottled between late January and early February 2023. I tasted it alongside the 2020 and 2018; it's closer to the latter, but the 2021 is more elegant, while the 2018 is a little more austere and herbal.