Puente Alto

Beef, Veal, Poultry, Pasta

In 1997 Baroness Philippine de Rothschild Chairman of the Advisory Board of Baron Philippe de Rothschild SA and Eduardo Guilisasti Tagle Chairman of Viña Concha y Toro S.A. sealed a partnership agreement with a view to create an exceptional Franco-Chilean wine called Almaviva. Produced under the joint technical supervision of both partners the first vintage achieved immediate international success upon its launch in 1998. The name Almaviva though it has an Hispanic sonority belongs to classical French literature: Count Almaviva is the hero of The Marriage of Figaro the famous play by Beaumarchais (1732-1799) later turned into an opera by the genius of Mozart. The label meanwhile pays homage to Chile’s ancestral history with three reproductions of a stylized design which symbolizes the vision of the earth and the cosmos in the Mapuche civilization. The design appears on the kultrun a ritual drum used by the Mapuche. The label bears the name Almaviva in Beaumarchais’ own handwriting. Two great traditions thus join hands to offer the whole world a promise of pleasure and excellence. The Château concept was introduced in the XIX century in France as a way to honor creative mastery of winegrowers from Bordeaux. Almaviva was the first wine in Chile created under this French Château concept taking into account exceptional terroir one unique bodega and one technical team – the three of which are dedicated exclusively to the production of one wine of unparalleled quality and excellence.

The vintage 2020 was a magnificent vintage, due to the particularly dry climatic conditions. A vintage that will be remembered as one of the most challenging for the team, that with great effort, commitment and dedication, was able to achieve an exceptional result. Winter was dramatically dry with only 64 mm of rainfall from May to September 2019, 75% less than the historical average of 256 mm. During the same winter period, the temperatures were alternatively lower and higher than usual, resulting in a budbreak occurring a bit later than expected, mainly during the first two weeks of a cold October. The temperatures increased significantly in November, and stayed at higher levels than usual during all Spring and Summer. Throughout the whole vegetative cycle, we hoped for rain and considered initially the drought as the main issue of the vintage. Paradoxically, the heats and the drought became a real blessing as they generated an early ripening process and obliged us to harvest naturally earlier and faster than usual, under the pressure of the incipient pandemic. All our grapes were quickly harvested between March 13th and April 17th, ending 3-4 weeks earlier than usual. The particular conditions of the year concentrated the savours in the berries, producing a wonderful vintage 2020 with lots of fruit, freshness, density and tension.

20 Months, New French Oak.