Escudo Rojo Origine Cabernet Sauvignon Chile 2020 (750ml)

 

Rated 95 Points by Decanter

 

The wine offers complex aromas of rosemary and bay leaves with seductive red fruit and blackberry leaf.  On the palate the flavours open up to include chocolate, mocha, and fresh mint tea.  A good classy style, but very young and needs time.

 

Rated 93 Points by James Suckling

 

A focused nose, showing tangy and deep cabernet character with rich berry fruit and a hint of tobacco leaf.  Cassis, sandalwood and dark chocolate, too.  This is a full-bodied red with a tight yet silky structure.  Some black fruit and dark olives in the middle with nice length.  Sustainable.  100% cabernet sauvignon.  Slightly chewy now, so drink from 2024.

 

Rated 91 Points by Wine Enthusiast

 

The nose shows a classical Maipo Valley Cabernet.  It's well-crafted, with nuances of oak and ripe fruit that are nicely balanced by elegant texture and excellent acidity.  Chocolate is followed by plum flavors in the earthy finish.  J.V.  Published 12/31/2023

 

Escudo Rojo Origine Cabernet Sauvignon Chile 2020

 

Escudo Rojo Origine is vinified in the Bordeaux manner, favoring extraction of the fruit and a supple, well-balanced tannic structure.

 

Tasting Notes

 

Refined and complex, with intense fruit notes, the nose reveals wild strawberry, cherry and blackcurrant aromas mingled with delicate notes of vanilla.  Excellent attack on the palate with a concentration and balanced acidity, on silky and refined tannins.  The wine goes on to reveal its distinctiveness and aromatic complexity on ripe black fruit and Morello cherry flavors followed by notes of vanilla, mocha and toasted hazelnuts on the finish, demonstrating all the power and complexity of Baron Philippe de Rothschild's selection of the finest Cabernet Sauvignon grapes.

 

Vinification

 

The grapes are hand-picked then brought to the Baron Philippe de Rothschild Maipo Chile bodega, in the heart of the Maipo Valley.

 

Aging

 

The wine is matured in 25% new oak barrels and 75% 1yr old oak barrels for 12 months.

 

Vineyard

 

This wine comes from the Maipo Valley, 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 Maipo Valley 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 91 Points by Wine Enthusiast

 

The nose shows a classical Maipo Valley Cabernet.  It's well-crafted, with nuances of oak and ripe fruit that are nicely balanced by elegant texture and excellent acidity.  Chocolate is followed by plum flavors in the earthy finish.  J.V.  Published 12/31/2023