Rothschild & Concha Y Toro, Almaviva, Maipo Valley 2018

This is such a beautifully nuanced red with tobacco, dried herbs, wet earth and currants. Some leather and rose petals, too. Full-bodied and chewy, yet refined with great polish. It’s rich and intense at the same time. Very focused center palate. Broad layers of tannin and fruit. A blend of 72% cabernet sauvignon, 19% carmenere, 6% cabernet franc and 3% petit verdot. Better after 2024, but already a joy to taste.

I found the 2018 Almaviva to be the most complex, nuanced and multifaceted version of Almaviva to date. It presents a perfectly balanced nose of black and red fruits, pipe tobacco, fresh mint, gravel dust and an enticing, harmonious hint of red peppers that gives the wine its distinctiveness. The palate displays understated ripeness with fantastic density and concentration while maintaining a sense of vibrancy. It finishes with a long, layered finish that highlights the paradoxes of a great wine: drying yet refreshing, lifted yet deep, straightforward yet slightly mysterious. This wine has it all and should continue to impress into its third decade.

Confident complexity on display here, fresh, powerful spicy notes of tobacco and grilled coffee beans alongside cool blueberry fruits. Winemaker Michel Friou has made a brilliant wine in this vintage that expands outwards through the palate. 100% new oak. Blend completed with 3% Petit Verdot.