Almaviva Winery
Vina Almaviva
Maipo Valley
2017

The producer

Vina Almaviva is a joint venture between Baroness Philippine de Rothschild (of Mouton Rothschild) and Concha y Toro which was established in the mid 1990s. the aim was to produce a fine wine which would be a mix of Chile’s soil and climate and France’s winegrowing traditions and expertise. The first vintage was 1998.

A 50-hectare vineyard, located in the highest part of Puente Alto, Maipo Valley, at 650 meters above sea level was planted with Cabernet Sauvignon and Carmenere mainly, with a soupcon of Cabernet Franc. The soil consists of loamy clay with sandy loam and gravels in the subsoil.

The name is inspired from French literature: Count Almaviva is a central figure in the Beaumarchais play ‘The Marriage of Figaro’ (later turned into an opera by Mozart). And the symbol on the label is a homage to Chile’s ancestral history, symbolizing the vision of the earth and the cosmos in the Mapuche civilization.

The wine

Almaviva is a blend of classic Bordeaux varieties, in which Cabernet Sauvignon dominates. Allowed to mature for 16 months in new French oak barrels, Almaviva is pure and focused with dense red berry fruit concentration, spicy and earthy complexity, smooth tannins and a juicy elevated finish.

We choose our wines based on a range of criteria (see how we choose our wines) of which critic scores is just one. Rather than simply highlight the best score to promote a wine, our average critic score is calculated from the scores provided by several respected wine critics, who we follow for specific regions. They do not represent all critic scores and, wherever possible, we try and give more weight to more recent reviews. Where appropriate we consider market-based scores like Global Wine Score or Wine Searcher Average scores.

As a rule, we look to offer wines that achieve a 92/100 average critic score or better and frankly a lot of very good wines simply don’t make the cut. As a high-end provider we want to reflect that positioning in the quality of wines we offer. Such wines are only a tiny fraction of those generally on offer in the market. We believe that an average score is a more conservative and representative approach, but it is still subjective and only offered as a guide to our customers, who will (and should) do their own research. We will add individual critic scores to our website in the future.