Viñedo Chadwick 2018

In 1942 Don Alfonso Chadwick had bought the Viña San José de Tocornal estate situated in Puente Alto on the rural outskirts of Santiago. It was here that Don Alfonso built his home and polo field. The estate comprised 300 hectares, 216 of which were planted to vineyards. It was certainly clear to the family that this place had an exceptional terroir, especially for its red wines. Managed by Don Alfonso with great passion for over 20 years, it is this vineyard – with its history dating back to 1880s – that was the origin of Chile’s most coveted appellation for fine Cabernet Sauvignon: Puente Alto DO.

In 1992, a tightly defined 15-hectare vineyard was carefully planted with vines produced through massal selection from the best Cabernet Sauvignon grapes in the family’s vineyards. A year later, Don Alfonso passed away, so he never saw or tasted the finished wine that was named after him. It is for this reason that his son Eduardo became so passionate in his quest to honour his father’s legacy through this wine. More than anything, Eduardo and his family have sought to create and craft the ultimate expression of this vineyard, as a permanent tribute to Don Alfonso’s passion for wine and his constant pursuit of excellence.

Viñedo Chadwick is farmed using the best sustainable practice to produce healthy and balanced grapes. Precision viticulture and extremely rigorous grape selection are employed, along with gentle handling and the finest winemaking methods. The approach has always been to create a wine of exceptional balance, freshness and purity, respecting each vintage character and reflecting the best expression of our land.

The outstanding 2018 vintage benefited from ideal conditions throughout the season. 

Tasting the grapes that month, Francisco Baettig recalled the perfect ripeness of the skins and seeds, not to mention their outstanding balance, flavour and acidity. This year, 3% Petit Verdot made it into the blend alongside the mainstay of Cabernet Sauvignon. On bottling the wine in February 2020, Baettig noted its ‘unique depth’ and suggested that this was perhaps ‘the most balanced vintage of Viñedo Chadwick ever crafted, promising great ageing potential.

"The 2018 Viñedo Chadwick is a wine made during a perfect year in which a wet winter was followed by a mild spring and similarly mild harvest period. Considered one of the great vintages in Chile, the balance and intensity achieved in Puente Alto DO offers one of the best versions for the last 20 years: a combination of the ideal climate with gravel soils defined a perfect maturity for Cabernet Sauvignon. Viñedo Chadwick, with a 3% dash of Petit Verdot, was 80% aged in new French barrels and the rest in for 22 months. It is garnet red with a purple sheen in the glass. It has a complex nose of herbs, blackcurrant, sour cherry and licorice over a bed of blackberry, cedar and orange petit fours. Broad but smooth, it develops good juiciness and depth with balanced flavor and tension while the richness and acidity combine harmoniously with the 13.5% alcohol." - 98 points, Antonio Galloni Vinous

"The aromas show blackcurrant, pine-tree, violet and light spearmint character. Full-bodied, yet reserved and tight with fine, creamy tannins. Hints of currants and fresh herbs. Extremely long and layered. Try after 2022." - 98 points, James Suckling

"They talk about textbook climate conditions during the growing season for the grapes used for the 2018 Viñedo Chadwick, mostly Cabernet Sauvignon with a 3% dash of Petit Verdot. The vines are planted on alluvial soils, and the grapes were picked in the morning and transported to the winery to be fermented in a combination of stainless steel (75%) and troncoconic concrete vats. Eighty percent of the wine matured in new French oak barriques and the remaining 20% in Stockinger oak foudres for a period of 22 months. It's 13.5% alcohol and has very good acidity. Viñedo Chadwick is a little warmer as a zone than the vineyards of Seña, but the wine is still very fresh, with moderate alcohol, perfectly ripe fruit and super integrated oak, coming through as elegant within the powerful style of the zone, with red and black fruit, some aromatic herbs, the cedary and spicy notes of the variety and the signature tannins of Cabernet, keeping the juiciness of the last few years. The little bit of Petit Verdot in the blend gives it a spicy touch. It's vibrant, balanced and intense, still a little young and creamy, and I'd wait a little bit longer before pulling the cork. This can surely age in bottle, as it has the ingredients and the balance to do so; it has the elegance of 2016 with a little more structure and depth—and a little more clout too. 10,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in February 2020." - 97 points, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate 

Producer: Viñedo Chadwick

Country: Chile

Region: Maipo Valley

Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon

Appellation: Maipo Valley

Vintage: 2018

Size: 750ml