2014 Clos Apalta Le Petit Clos

Community Tasting Notes (8) Avg Score: 90.2 points

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  2/28/2024 - WindFlyer Likes this wine: 92 Points

  [inaugural vintage of Clos Apalta's second wine; one-hour decant, fair amount of sediment]
  
  dark purple core with minor bricking and full body. ample nose of menthol, cassis, cedar, leather and violets with whiffs of chocolate and undergrowth. still a bit tight at first, i opened up in the glass to unfold in fresh, gentle and nuanced layers of plummy dark fruit enriched with spice, earthy minerality, and subtle herbal veins. silky texture, firm but polished tannins, bright acidity, and appreciable length round out the experience.
  
  well-developed and still elegant. while the structure and acidity are still quite strong, the intensity of the fruit has faded some and secondary flavours have emerged.
  
  14.5% AbV; 40% Cab Sauv/ 30% Carmenere/ 28% Merlot/ and 2% Petit Verdot; Cab Sauv and Carmenere vines are pre-phyloxera planted in 1920; fermented in large oak vats; first ageing of eight months in 100% new French oak barrels; second ageing of eighteen months in 33% new French oak barrels, 33% once-used French oak barrels, and 34% large oak vats.

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  12/4/2021 - doctorj1 wrote: flawed

  corked

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  2/20/2021 - rexmerlot wrote: 90 Points

  Elegant wine. Dark purple in color. Notes of cassis, violet and dark chocolate. Dry, med body, nice acidity, grippy tannins.

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  11/5/2019 - WindFlyer Likes this wine: 91 Points

  Clos Apalta Winery Tour and Tasting (Apalta, Chile): first release of a Clos Apalta "second wine."
  
  following five-week fermentation in the large oak vats, the wine went into new barrels for eight months, after which time the barrel selection between the grand vin and the petit took place. the petit wine then went one-third into new barrels, another third into once-used barrels, and the last third into the large oak vats. the final blend for this wine was 40% Cab Sauv, 30% Carmenere, 28% Merlot, and 2% Petit Verdot.
  
  it is full-bodied and, in the dim lighting of the winery's lower level tasting room, looked positively dark and inky in the glass (slightly more generous than a tasting pour). the nose is rich with cassis, blackberries, and plums and whiffs of cedar and anise; surprisingly, the expected green pepper of Chile Carmenere was generally absent. in the mouth it tastes fresher and juicier than i would have expected… with around three years in bottle, it is already developed, approachable, and well-balanced: there is plenty of fruit, acidity and a tannic backbone for the wine to develop further and display its nuances.

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  9/19/2018 - Glenn92 Likes this wine: 91 Points

  Ruby edge and GREAT color in the glass
  Nose is wonderful- tobacco, leather, smoke and some anise
  Second time producing wine
  100% organic and self sustaining
  Gravity fed - due to earthquake safety
  Smooth upfront that builds up to a wonderful big finish
  Native yeast
  100% new oak - 3 years total 1 year in bottle
  More fruit than I like but well balanced and structure

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View all 8 Community Tasting Notes

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