Virtual Wine Tasting featuring Almaviva Winery with Special Guest Manuel Louzada

“There is truth in wine, but you never see it listed in the ingredients on the label”
― Josh Stern

I guess wine is considered to be above the law when it comes to the FDA and other organizations that regulate what we consume.  Even though most wines are made with very little other than the grapes themselves, there is no way to know based on the label, it is one of the only products that you consume that does not have a list of ingredients- even bottled water is required to have a list of ingredients today.

The best wines today are made with either: sustainable, organic or biodynamic practices and this is not only to make better wines but to maintain better vineyard health.  Just like it is bad for us humans to take antibiotics every time we have a little sniffle or cough, the vineyards are healthier and will live longer more productive lives if they are maintained with natural principles.

It’s Wednesday and that means it’s time for our virtual tasting!

We are hosting virtual tastings every Wednesday on Zoom and Instagram live which will be posted to Instagram TV.  So, if you can’t make it at 6pm to chat with Peter Mondavi Jr. today, Wednesday July 8th you can tune in any time after that by checking out the video posted to Wine Watch’s Instagram page.  The virtual tasting packs are up on our web page under the gift box selections and you can purchase them before the event and taste along with us or purchase them any time after the event until the wines are no longer available and taste the wines and watch the interview at your leisure.

In two weeks we have good friend Manuel Louzada from one of the iconic wineries of Chile Amaviva.  This winery is one of the joint ventures that the folks from Chateau Mouton Rothschild and one of the most sucessful of it’s kind anywhere in the world.  Join us as we welcome Manuel on Wednesday, July 22nd at 6pm EST.  We will be showing three vintages of the Almaviva two of which we have in the store if you want to follow along you can purchase one or both to taste along with us. 

Virtual Wine Tasting featuring Almaviva Winery
with Special Guest Manuel Louzada
Wednesday, July 22, 2020
6:00 PM

2016 Vina Almaviva Chile
List Price: $163.25      Sale $143.66   Quantity in Stock: 6

(95 Points) The 2016 harvest was complicated by rain in late April, which made them hurry up and finish two weeks earlier than normal. The year was also cooler, and the 2016 Almaviva, a blend of 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Carmenère, 8% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot has less alcohol at 13.9% compared to 15% in 2014. The élevage was shortened to 16 months, and they decreased the percentage of new French barrels used-down to 77% from the 82% in the previous year. The wine is fresher and less marked by the oak, a more fluid version, with fine tannins. This is a little different, a lighter and fresher year. It was a very dry winter, complicated by rains. I found very good harmony and fine tannins, balance and freshness in one of the most elegant vintages I remember from Almaviva. This has contained power, very accessible tannins and no green notes at all. It's young but accessible and should develop nicely in bottle, as it has the balance and freshness. This is an elegant and fresh vintage for Almaviva, young and tender, taking advantage of the natural conditions for it. Well done! Luis Gutierrez, September 6, 2018

2017 Vina Almaviva Puente Alto Chile
List Price: $163.25      Sale $143.66   Quantity in Stock: 4

(94 Points) 2017 was an unusual year, warm and extremely dry (178 liters of rain, but there was some rain after the 2016 harvest, so the soil had some water), and the harvest and the whole cycle was two to three weeks earlier than normal. That is the context for the 2017 Almaviva, whose vines saw extremely low yields (ten hectoliters per hectare in the older parts, 36 hectoliters per hectare in the young vines) and produced concentrated juice. The bottled blend is 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Carmenère, 5% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petit Verdot and 2% Merlot, quite similar to the 2016, and the alcohol level reached 14.6% with a pH of 3.65 and 4.9 grams of acidity (measured in tartaric acid). It matured in French oak barriques (825 of them new) for 19 months. It's a riper, rounder and softer vintage, with moderate acidity and a tender mouthfeel, really marked by very high temperatures all year round. They used a little more Petit Verdot in the blend, but there is no over ripeness. The wine shows some herbal aromas (I really notice the touch of the Carmenere this year). They harvested extremely early (three weeks earlier than normal!) and were able to keep the tension in the wine, and it has a polished mouthfeel and very round tannins. It's a nicely crafted red blend, and they were able to overcome the difficulties of the year; I see the style of something between 2016 and 2015, quite compact. It might require some more bottle age to open up, and it should develop nicely in bottle. 180,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in January 2019. Wine Advocate

Topic: Almaviva Winery Virtual Tasting with Manuel Louzada
Time: Jul 22, 2020 06:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/92301534578?pwd=MWRZcUlaa25wWkl5OE9jQm5OdTFRdz09

Meeting ID: 923 0153 4578
Password: 8jZcw4

A bit about Almaviva Winery:

In 1997, Baroness Philippine de Rothschild, Chairman of the Advisory Board of Baron Philippe de Rothschild SA, and Eduardo Guilisasti Tagle, Chairman of Viña Concha y Toro S.A., sealed a partnership agreement with a view to create an exceptional Franco-Chilean wine called Almaviva.

Produced under the joint technical supervision of both partners, the first vintage achieved immediate international success upon its launch in 1998..

Made from a blend of classic Bordeaux varieties, in which Cabernet Sauvignon predominates, Almaviva is the result of a felicitous encounter between two cultures.        

Chile offers its soil, its climate and its vineyards, while France contributes its winemaking savoir-faire and traditions.           

The result is an exceptionally elegant and complex wine.  Its launch was a major milestone in the development of Chilean wines, both in Chile itself and in the international market.

There is still no official classification of wines in Chile. However, the launch of Almaviva has given rise to the Primer Orden category, a Spanish term that corresponds to the French concept of Grand Cru and the English estate grown wines.  

Primer Orden wines are made and bottled at the estate own winery and vineyards, by a technical team dedicated exclusively to producing one wine.

Located in the Maipo Valley, in Chile's central zone, Puente Alto was recognized over twenty years ago as offering ideal conditions for growing the Cabernet Sauvignon grape.           

It is here that 85 hectares have been reserved exclusively for Almaviva.

Located in Puente Alto, this bodega was designed by the famous Chilean architect Martín Hurtado. Built in 1998, and inaugurated in the year 2000, this winery is recognized as a perfect integration of both esthetic design and functionality.  

For its construction, native woods were brought from the south of Chile, integrating the bodega into the typical Chilean Central Valley landscape. The decoration of its interior is inspired by the native people of Chile, using throughout the bodega symbols and artifacts representative of the Mapuche culture.

Although the winter rainfall was slightly inferior to historical average, the rains were steady and well distributed throughout the winter season. Reasonably warm temperatures and a good water supply in the soil helped to ensure a homogenous bud-break in September, and a great growth in October-November.

From December to February, the maximum temperatures remained considerably elevated during the day, with a diurnal fluctuation of temperatures particularly high.           

Lower temperatures in April slowed down the ripening process to give us the latest harvest date ever, with picking lasting from April 24 to May 24. Dry conditions and slow ripening contributed to a great accumulation of phenolic compounds, a good balance and an optimal ripeness of the grapes.

Other Wines in the store from Chile:

NV Undurraga Brut Methode Champenoise Chile
Price: $15.75   Your Price: $13.86      Quantity in Stock: 5

2017 Echo Cabernet Sauvignon Colchagua
Price: $19.50   Sale Price: $17.16       Quantity in Stock: 8

2017 Casa Silva Carmenere Los Lingues Colchagua Chile
Price: $18.00   Your Price: $15.84      Quantity in Stock: 3

2017 Echo Chardonnay Colchagua
Price: $18.00   Your Price: $15.84      Quantity in Stock: 12

2017 Fitz Roy Sauvignon Blanc Curico Valley Chile
Price: $11.25   Your Price: $9.90                    Quantity in Stock: 18

2016 Casa Lapostolle Clos Apalta Colchagua
Price: $112.50 Your Price: $99.00      Quantity in Stock: 24

(96 points) The 2016 Clos Apalta is a blend of 64% Carménère (higher than in 2015), 19% Cabernet Sauvignon and 17% Merlot hitting the scale at 15% alcohol with a pH of 3.7. The Carménère and Cabernet were planted ungrafted in 1920, and all the vineyards are organic and biodynamic (certified) and very low yielding. The hand-destemmed grapes fermented in oak vats and barriques (17%), and the wine went through malolactic and 26 months of aging in brand new French barriques. I've seen a great improvement in Carménère in Chile in the last few years, perhaps since they stopped wanting to grow it everywhere and focused on the places where it grows well, like the Apalta region. They have also learned to tame the green aromas and fierce tannins and alcohol and to produce much more harmonious reds, like this aromatic example that reveals spice, tobacco leaves, red fruit and floral notes without noticeable alcohol or excess ripeness. The oak is surprisingly well integrated for such a young wine, and there is harmony, concentration and balance to make it age in bottle for a long time. The palate is full-bodied, and the tannins are fine-grained and in balance with the rest of the components, coming through as a compact and powerful yet elegant red. This has to be one of the finest Clos Apaltas of all time. (LG)  (8/2019)  Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

2016 Montes Alpha M Cabernet Sauvignon Chile
Price: $97.50   Your Price: $85.80      Quantity in Stock: 1

2016 Concha Y Toro Don Melchor Cabernet Sauvignon Chile
Price: $127.50 Your Price: $112.20    Quantity in Stock: 1

2016 Montes Cherub Rose of Syrah Colchagua Valley Chile
Price: $15.75   Your Price: $13.86      Quantity in Stock: 5

2016 Atanea Sauvignon Blanc Casablanca Valley
Price: $15.75   Your Price: $13.86      Quantity in Stock: 6

2015 Atanea Pinot Noir Casablanca
Price: $17.50   Your Price: $15.40      Quantity in Stock: 4

2014 Neyen Espiritu de Apalta Colchagua Valley
Price: $57.50   Your Price: $50.60      Quantity in Stock: 6

2013 San Pedro Altair Red Chile
Price: $81.00   Your Price: $71.28      Quantity in Stock: 4

2013 Terra Noble Carmenere Colchagua Valley
Price: $30.00   Your Price: $26.40      Quantity in Stock: 8

2012 Maquis Lien Colchagua Valley
Price: $34.25   Your Price: $30.14      Quantity in Stock: 9

2012 Montsecano Pinot Noir Casablanca
Price: $48.75   Your Price: $42.90      Quantity in Stock: 8

2011 Ventisquero Grey Glacier Cabernet Sauvignon Maipo valley
Price: $22.00   Your Price: $19.36      Quantity in Stock: 3

2009 Loma Larga Sauvignon Blanc Casablanca
Price: $16.25   Your Price: $14.30      Quantity in Stock: 4

2008 Santa Carolina Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva de Familia Valle Del Maipo
Price: $26.50   Your Price: $23.32      Quantity in Stock: 1

Remember any night that we have an event here, Thursday, Friday and Saturday night you can have your own private dining room in the Wine Cave where we take a single reservation every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night.

We will take up to 15 people but will accept as few as 6 for a curated dinner by Chef Toni.  We must know in advance what food items you want so you will have to coordinate the menu with Toni ahead of time but she can put together any of your favorites from past Wine Bar menus or whatever you want if she has enough notice. The best thing about this table is the view of the wine, we have the largest selection of vintage wine in South Florida and everything is available at a retail price!!  You may want to bring a sweater it is 64 degrees in the wine cave. We only have Thursday night open this week as we are already booked on Friday and Saturday nights.