Escudo Rojo Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva Chile 2021 (750ml)

 

Rated 91 Points by James Suckling

 

Blackcurrants, grilled meat and dark spices on the nose.  A medium-to full-bodied with nicely chewy tannins and a spicy finish.

 

Rated 90 Points by Wine Spectator

 

A medium-bodied version, with a loam and mineral inlay to the cherry and black raspberry core, while lively acidity midpalate pushes the flavors onto the finish, picking up details of fresh thyme and olive.  Drink now.  14,500 cases made, 3,000 cases imported.

 

Escudo Rojo Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva Chile 2021

 

This typical Bordeaux grape variety prospers in Chile’s famous Maipo Valley.  The perfect expression of a 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, the wine gains in roundness and refinement with age.

 

Tasting Notes

 

The nose opens on an array of refined ripe black fruit aromas, joined on airing by light toasted hazelnut notes.  The palate has ripe black fruit notes found on the nose return on the rich and ample attack, while attractive spice and toast flavors bring remarkable complexity and intensity to the midpalate, underpinned by powerful tannins typical of Cabernet Sauvignon.  The black fruit flavors return on the long and fresh finish.

 

Vinification

 

The grapes are hand-picked then brought to the Baron Philippe de Rothschild Maipo Chile bodega, in the heart of the Maipo Valley.  Combining wood and steel in a distinctive architectural style, the bodega has state-of-the-art equipment that also respects the great winemaking traditions.  Escudo Rojo Cabernet Sauvignon is vinified in the Bordeaux manner, favoring extraction of the fruit and a supple, well-balanced tannic structure.

 

Aging

 

The wine is matured in one-year-old oak barrels for six to eight months before bottling.  10% new oak and 90% 1-2 year old oak barrels.

 

Vineyard

 

This wine comes from the “Valle del Maipo”, 30 km south of Santiago.  Nestling at the foot of the Andes Mountains, it is a valley with a long winegrowing tradition which offers some of the best conditions for cultivating Cabernet Sauvignon.  Baron Philippe de Rothschild Maipo Chile's winemakers have chosen the “Valle del Maipo” vineyards for their temperate climate and their soil, poor in alluvial deposits and rich in pebbles, ideal for expressing the power, elegance and minerality of the wines.  The combination of summer heat with the influence of the Andes produces a marked day/night temperature differential highly favorable to preservation of the fruit.

 

 

Escudo Rojo

 

Worthy Heir of Baron Philippe De Rothschild In Chile

 

Escudo Rojo is an iconic Chilean brand created by Baron Philippe de Rothschild to produce the best wines in each category and market them worldwide.  The wines strike a harmonious balance between freshness, fruit, oak, fullness on the palate and ageing potential.  In addition to the flagship blended wine, the Escudo Rojo range includes five varietal wines: Carmenere, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.  All the wines in the range express a distinctive character, reflecting the expression of its terroir.

 

Escudo Rojo is the Spanish translation of the German “Rote Schild” meaning Red Shield.  In 1999, the encounter between Chilean soil and Bordeaux expertise gave rise to Escudo Rojo, a branded wine worthy of the Baron Philippe de Rothschild name, synonymous with the high standards of a great winemaking tradition.  Vines were first introduced into Chile in the 16th century by the Spanish Conquistadors and their religious orders who needed wine to celebrate mass.  Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay vines were imported from France in the 19th century in order to make finer wines.

 

Located at Buin-Maipo, 45 kilometers south of Santiago in the famous Maipo Valley, the Baron Philippe de Rothschild Maipo Chile bodega stands in its own 63-hectare (156-acre) vineyard.  The wines are made, matured, bottled and packaged at the estate under the supervision of a French winemaker and under the control of an in-house laboratory.  For each of its wines, the winery selects the best parcels in Chile’s most highly reputed valleys in order to make wines which consistently combine refinement and character.  Regular sources of supply and constant quality are also guaranteed by long-term contracts with partner winegrowers, especially further south, in the Rapel Valley.  A rigorous parcel selection procedure has been created, with each parcel being tested for three years in order to ensure that the grapes are of sufficiently high quality to be used to make Escudo Rojo.

 

All the grapes are picked by hand in small 10-kilo baskets in order to preserve the fruit.  The grapes are then sorted twice before entering the winery: first by hand on a sorting table, then after destemming.  This is a proactive approach to quality that is rarely used in even the most prestigious vineyards, this practice demonstrates Escudo Rojo’s ambitious quality standards.  Escudo Rojo strikes a harmonious balance between freshness, fruit, oak, fullness on the palate and ageing potential.  In order to achieve this harmony, some of the wine is matured in oak barrels and the rest in stainless steel vats.  After maturing, the wines are fined with egg-white and filtered.  The proportion of each grape variety in the final blend for Escudo Rojo varies slightly from year to year in order to ensure an expressive wine of the highest quality.

 

 

Rated 90 Points by Wine Spectator

 

A medium-bodied version, with a loam and mineral inlay to the cherry and black raspberry core, while lively acidity midpalate pushes the flavors onto the finish, picking up details of fresh thyme and olive.  Drink now.  14,500 cases made, 3,000 cases imported.