2019 Cuvee Alexandre Cabernet Sauvignon
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Tasting notes
A new estate from the team at Clos Apalta, from 17 year old Syrah vines grown on steep east-facing granite-dominant slopes in the Apalta Valley. Sweet red cherry and crushed rocks, touch of reduction at first that opens to show richly textured raspberry, blueberry, vanilla bean, liquorice and olive tapenade, with a heady blast of fragrant raspberry leaf and violet flowers lifting things up through the finish. 100% new oak, and for me errs a little too much on the sweet side at this early stage but it's already mouthwatering. Made in tiny quantities in 2018 (for now in the Clos Apalta cellars), this is the first full vintage, from grapes that when younger were part of the Lapostolle Cuvée Alexander. Andrea Léon technical director.
Critic scores
Average Score
Luis Gutiérrez, Wine Advocate
Joaquin Hidalgo, Vinous
More reviews and scores
I was surprised by the varietal purity of the 2019 Cuvée Alexandre Cabernet Sauvignon despite being blended with some 9% Carmenere, 4% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot, which probably adds complexity and more Bordeaux character to the bottled wine. But it also has Chilean character, balsamic and round, with good acidity and pungent flavors. It fermented with indigenous yeasts and matured in French oak barrels for 16 months. It's quite classical. 118,800 bottles produced. It was bottled in November 2020.
The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Cuvée Alexandre also includes Carménère (9%), Cabernet Franc (4%) and Petit Verdot (1%) from Apalta, Colchagua, and was aged for 16 months in French barrels, 25% of them new. On the nose it presents dried plums, cherries and mint over an expressive bed of spices in which white pepper mingles with cigar box aromas. In the mouth, it begins with a lush flourish of grippy tannins that won’t be truly polished for a little while. A compact, elegant and potent wine.