2015 Alcance Cabernet Sauvignon Bravura Maipo Valley Chile 750 ml

Chile made its international reputation on its wines’ value and the strength of its powerful Cabernets. Few wineries there are in the same league as Alcance, which was proudly founded by the same family that made Vérité and Cardinale into 100-point California icons. Now, the winery “carries the torch” for a terroir-focused “wine making revolution” according to Forbes magazine.

Unlike Vérité’s La Joie, which costs a cool $350 per bottle, or Cardinale, a relative steal at $275, today’s 2015 Bravura (their top bottling) is a testament to how far your money goes in the Napa of the Southern Hemisphere.

For years, we listened patiently as our own Master Sommelier Sur Lucero waxed poetic about the wines from Alcance, which he tasted on his last trip to Chile. The Bravura was chief among them, and the first time our whole wine team tasted the incredible Cab, it was clear Sur hadn’t exaggerated a thing.

This is a wine that obviously belongs in the same class as Napa bottles twice its price. Deeply colored with a ruby tone that’s almost black in the center of the glass, the aromatics are potent and complex, centering around notes of blackberry, cassis, expensive leather, and vanilla. The palate delivers layers of flavor, with more dark fruit, hints of cacao, tobacco, and a finely-wrought finish that features elegantly textured tannins.

The wine exudes luxury because no expense is spared in its production—and it’s only made in the best vintages, like 2015. Wine Spectator thinks it’s the best vintage since 2007, notable for its “powerful Cabernet Sauvignons,” and Vinous called the best reds “well-balanced and ageworthy,” like today’s Bravura.

The grapes are entirely from Alcance’s estate vineyards, with the Cabernet from local-legend El Principal driving the wine, and a touch of Carménère and Petit Verdot acting as accents to provide complexity and color. The climate here is desert-like, the poor, dry soils receiving only around 25 inches of rain in the winter. It’s the perfect recipe for wines that showcase intense richness married to elegant tannins.

Once the grapes make it to the winery, they’re lavished with attention, receiving a six-day cold soak to extract extra fruit without extra tannin, before a twenty-day fermentation that features twice-daily pump-overs to make sure the texture stays velvety. Finally, the wine is aged for a luxurious 18 months in 35% new, tight-grained French oak from the Allier, Troncais, and Vosges forests—the ideal combination to add delicate vanilla and cacao notes while polishing the wine’s texture to perfection.

It’s a level of detail you don’t always see in Napa wines in the $100 range, but Alcance has always been a step ahead (at least!) in value. Thanks to our members’ support, we’re taking that value to an astonishing new level.