Almaviva 2015

When Baroness Philippine de Rothschild and Eduardo Guilisasti Tagle formalized their joint venture in 1997, they imposed a single constraint no Chilean producer had attempted at scale: one estate, one bodega, one technical team, one wine — the French Château model transplanted to the foot of the Andes. That founding discipline is the reason every technical decision here is non-negotiable rather than commercial.

The single estate sits in Puente Alto at 620–650 m, the highest sub-zone of the Maipo Valley. Soils are shallow loamy clay over sandy loam, gravel, and Andean alluvial rock — poor, fast-draining, naturally low pH. The Cordillera's diurnal swings preserve acidity and aromatic precision even as the site delivers full phenolic ripeness.

Fruit is hand-harvested into shallow bins, hand-sorted, and transferred by gravity only — no pumps — into parcel-specific stainless tanks. Cold maceration extracts color and aromatics before alcoholic fermentation; malolactic fermentation is spontaneous, triggered immediately before or after gravity drainage into barrel. Aging runs 20 months in French oak, 70–73% new, in the estate's Grand Chai vault.

The 2015 vintage carries no published specific blend data in the brand library, but the house signature — Cabernet Sauvignon dominant with Carmenère at up to 24% — delivers roasted pepper and dark spice that no Bordeaux or Napa peer can structurally replicate. Almaviva was also the first non-Bordeaux wine admitted to La Place de Bordeaux. Drink 2024–2038.