Almaviva

The History of Almaviva 

In the 1990s, Baronne Philippine de Rothschild, at the helm of Baron Philippe de Rothschild S.A., was searching the world for a terroir capable of producing exceptional Cabernet Sauvignon. Her encounter with Eduardo Guilisasti Tagle, president of Viña Concha y Toro, led in 1997 to a historic agreement: to create together a prestigious Franco-Chilean wine, crafted under the joint technical supervision of both houses. The first vintage, launched on the market in 1998, enjoyed immediate international success and instantly elevated Chile into the ranks of the world's great wines.

The estate's name pays tribute to Count Almaviva, the hero of Beaumarchais's The Marriage of Figaro, immortalised by Mozart's opera, a symbol of the bond between European culture and the New World. The label, for its part, celebrates Chile's ancestral history with three stylised reproductions of the kultrun, the Mapuche drum representing the vision of the earth and the cosmos. Led today by Manuel Louzada and vinified for many years by Michel Friou, an oenologist who trained at Château Margaux, Almaviva celebrated its 25th vintage and has accumulated numerous distinctions, including several perfect 100-point scores awarded by James Suckling.

Terroirs and Vines of Almaviva 

The Almaviva vineyard extends across Puente Alto, in the highest part of the Maipo valley, at the heart of central Chile, at approximately 650 metres of altitude at the foot of the Andes. This terroir is unanimously recognised as the birthplace of Chile's greatest Cabernet Sauvignons: stony, poor and perfectly drained alluvial soils, cold and rainy winters, temperate summers and a long ripening period marked by cool nights. The refreshing influence of the Andes Cordillera, with its descending breezes and exceptional diurnal temperature variation between day and night, allows the grapes to retain freshness and aromatic finesse while reaching perfect maturity.

The grape varieties follow the classic Bordeaux palette: Cabernet Sauvignon dominates by a wide margin, complemented by Carmenère, Chile's emblematic variety — part of which comes from the terroir of Peumo in the Cachapoal valley — as well as Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot. Each plot is cultivated with extreme precision, hand-harvested and vinified separately.

Vinifications of Almaviva 

In the cellar, built specifically for the project and inspired by the great growths of the Médoc, the philosophy is that of a Bordeaux château transposed beneath the Chilean sky. The grapes, rigorously sorted, ferment in plot-by-plot batches in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks, with gentle and precise extraction. The fine wine is then aged for approximately 18 months in French oak barrels, with a high proportion of new wood, before a final blend carried out under the dual Franco-Chilean expertise. The second wine, EPU, benefits from ageing in barrels previously used for the ageing of the fine wine, supplemented since 2020 by a proportion of new oak. This exacting approach at every stage yields wines that are ample, silky and of great depth, true to the Puente Alto terroir and endowed with a remarkable ageing potential.

The cuvées of Almaviva 

Almaviva: the fine wine of the estate, a blend dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon (generally 65 to 75%), complemented by Carmenère, Cabernet Franc and, depending on the vintage, Merlot and Petit Verdot. Its deep colour heralds a sumptuous bouquet of blackcurrant, blueberry, cedar, dark chocolate and gentle spices, carried by a dense, velvety palate with a signature Andean freshness. Regularly awarded 95 to 100 points by the specialist press, this exceptional wine rivals the greatest classified growths of Bordeaux in blind tastings and can age 20 to 30 years under the best conditions. It is available in bottle, magnum and large collector formats, with each vintage expressing a different facet of Puente Alto.

EPU: the second wine of Almaviva, whose name means "two" in the Mapuche language, referencing its rank as well as the two families and two founding cultures of the estate. Sourced from the same Puente Alto vineyards, with a contribution of Carmenère from Peumo, and crafted by the same technical team, it is dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon (approximately 80 to 85%), complemented by Carmenère, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Coming from younger vines and cooler sections of the vineyard, EPU offers a more vertical and accessible profile, considered more Bordeaux-like than its elder sibling: bright red and black fruits, raspberry, redcurrant and blackcurrant, notes of liquorice, tea and spices, round tannins and a fresh finish. Long reserved for the Chilean market, it has been distributed internationally since the 2019 vintage and represents the ideal entry point into the world of Almaviva, to be enjoyed within its first 7 to 10 years or cellared.