Escudo Rojo Carmenere Reserva Red Wine Chile 2021 (750ml)

 

Rated 92 Points by James Suckling

 

Engaging cumin spices with glossy currants, black olives and tobacco leaf.  A medium-to full-bodied carmenere with juicy black fruit and firm but silky tannins.  Nice length, with some dark spices and olives.

 

Rated 90 Points by Wine Spectator

 

Tightly wound for Carmenère, but slowly reveals subtle dusty cocoa, petrichor and spice notes up front, joining black cherry flavors that ride a wave of briny olive and fresh acidity onto a finish marked by firm tannins and roasted red pepper.  Best after 2025. 

 

Escudo Rojo Carmenere Reserva Red Wine Chile 2021

 

Having disappeared from Bordeaux vineyards in the 19th century, Carmenere has made a miraculous recovery, becoming Chile’s signature grape.  Escudo Rojo Carmenere is sourced from a selection of the best parcels in the Rapel Valley, giving the wine all its character and intensity.

 

Winemaker Notes

 

The nose opens on ripe blackberry fruit aromas, joined on airing by notes of roasted coffee beans and black pepper.  From a highly expressive attack on the black fruit found on the nose, the peppery notes that emerged with airing return on a midpalate which combines power with heft.  The finish lingers on an intense array of black fruit, spice, and roasted coffee bean flavors.

 

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 Carmenere 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.  30% new oak and 70% 1-2 year old oak barrels.

 

Vineyard

 

This wine comes from the “Valle de Colchagua”, in the central part of Chile 200 km south of Santiago.  The vineyard, extending from the Andes Mountains to the Pacific coast, has a Mediterranean climate particularly well-suited to the development of the Carmenere grape.  Baron Philippe de Rothschild Maipo Chile's winemakers have chosen the “Valle de Colchagua” vineyards for the variety of their soils and the amplitude of their temperature differences.  Two types of soil have been chosen to favor the full expression of the Carmenere grape: deep clay soil for the concentration and power of the fruit, and gravelly clay soil of the "maicillo" type, which brings elegance and minerality.

 

 

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

 

Tightly wound for Carmenère, but slowly reveals subtle dusty cocoa, petrichor and spice notes up front, joining black cherry flavors that ride a wave of briny olive and fresh acidity onto a finish marked by firm tannins and roasted red pepper.  Best after 2025.