2019 Vina Almaviva Puente Alto Chile 750 ml

When Château Mouton Rothschild’s Baroness Philippine de Rothschild set her eyes on Chile, she knew that the highest terraces of the Maipo Valley could produce wines to rival the Grand Cru Classé icons of Bordeaux. 

So she settled in Puente Alto, the subzone that the Wine Advocate praised for its “luxury Cabernet Sauvignon.” She teamed up with Chilean powerhouse Concha y Toro and hired top talent: First, Patrick Leon of Mouton Rothschild, then Château Margaux veteran winemaker Michel Friou. And now, a quarter century later, Viña Almaviva is a truly world-class wine—one Decanter called “a New World grand cru.”

Almaviva is “one of the greatest wine producers in Chile, if not all of the world,” according to James Suckling, who awarded 97 points to this 2019. Drawing raw power and endless complexity from an outstanding vintage in the Maipo Valley, it stands with its First Growth Bordeaux and Napa Valley brethren as one of the most regal red wines in the world.  

The Maipo Valley’s 2019 vintage was defined by dryness, which drastically lowered yields. Fortunately, the grapes that emerged were phenomenal—some of the tiniest, most densely concentrated clusters that growers had seen in years. 

That was especially true for Almaviva’s vines in Puente Alto—Maipo’s highest-elevation sub-region and a premier locale for Bordeaux varieties—where poor, rocky soils lend wines mineral sophistication, and cool winds swooping down off the Andes refresh the vineyards. During the warm 2019 season, that mountain influence maintained freshness and lengthened the growing season, allowing the grapes to ripen slowly to perfection.

The result is a big, broad-shouldered Cabernet-based powerhouse that stands with the world’s great red wines.