2014 Clos Apalta
Community Tasting Note
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Tuesday, November 5, 2019 - Clos Apalta Winery Tour and Tasting (Apalta, Chile): while the barrels of petit come "off the line" after eight months, those destined for this grand vin continue in new wood for another twenty months. the final blend for this iteration is 48% Carmenere, 31% Cab Sauv, and 21% Merlot.
the tasting pour was on the stingy side, but even so i could appreciate the body of the wine in the glass, and it seemed about as dark as the petit wine in the dim light. it took a bit of time for the alcohol (15%) to blow off and the reticent nose to begin to appear, and it did so with the the tell-tale green pepper notes of the Carmenere followed by ripe fruits (figs and berries) and tobacco and toasted wood. it is, as expected, full in the mouth, but very very smooth. the acidity is mellow and the tannins, while strong, are very fine and allow the complex flavours to manifest themselves and follow into a remarkably long finish.
while clearly time will enrich this wine, i find it much more approachable than a Bordeaux of the same age (about three years after bottling) and much more nuanced than the stereotypical Napa Valley big Cab. it is more traditional than modern (compared to say, the wines from Vik) while hewing a line between those styles.
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