Region: Maipo Valley, Chile

Varietal: 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot

Tasting notes: Chile’s Maipo Valley makes some of the world’s most distinctive and outstanding Cabernets, and this is one of them in both respects.  I adore the wine and its ultra-expressive character, which was made by Jean Pascal Lacaze, winemaker for Domus Aurea. The wine shows wonderfully, deliciously ripe fruit, but the key elements are the aromatic topnotes of cedar and eucalyptus, as well as the finish, which is all about saline mineral undertow. The combination of these facets keeps this supremely interesting from stem to stern, with an enduring sense of interplay between the fruit and non-fruit elements that changes as the wine opens, but never lets up.

Producer: Peñalolén winery was founded by Viña Quebrada de Macul owners Ricardo and Isabel Peña. They are focused on producing unique Chilean wines, full of personality and verve. The wines are made by winemaker Jean-Pascal Lacaze, well respected for his deft hand in producing memorable wines. All grapes are grown and hand harvested with meticulous care to guarantee the integrity of the fruit, and picked early in the morning when the weather is coolest. Peñalolén truly is a family-owned, boutique winery committed to making wines of distinction.

Vineyard and Winemaking: Low yields and hand harvesting indicate the care given to the superior fruit from this single-vineyard winery located on the gravelly slopes of the Maipo Valley. These standards extend to the wine-making process, with meticulous grape selection and aging in French oak barrels for 12 months.