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“There’s no doubt that Clos Apalta is one of the world’s greatest red wines.”
James Suckling
The powerful 99pt 2019 Clos Apalta from Chile’s Casa Lapostolle is a stunner, an elegantly crafted Bordeaux-style blend offering layers of dark plush fruit with rippling, juicy tannins on a lengthy finish, a perennial B-21 favorite that’s guaranteed to sell out quickly at our best on the market pricing.
Arriving in the Colchagua Valley in 1994, French Grand Marnier heiress Alexandra Marnier Lapostolle and her husband Cyril de Bournet were inspired by the exceptional Chilean terroir to craft a world class wine, tapping into the winemaking expertise of renowned French oenologist Michel Rolland to lead the restoration of the century old vineyards and construction of a new state of the art winery. Releasing this 22nd vintage now under the direction of their son Charles-Henri de Bournet, Clos Apalta is the only South American wine ever to garner the coveted #1 spot on the Wine Spectator’s Top 100, named an astounding five times to the list and regularly earning “classic” ratings of 95 pts. and above. Sourced mainly from two blocks of old vines planted in a myriad of granitic soils in the 1920’s, the biodynamically farmed Clos Apalta vineyards are in the shadow of the towering coastal Cordillera Mountains, protected from the searing sun while enjoying a cool maritime mist most mornings that creates optimal conditions for ripening Carmenere while maintaining its freshness and acidity. Blending mostly Carmenere with Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and a little Petit Verdot, winemaker Jacques Begarie aged the 99 pt. 2019 Clos Apalta for 24 months in 90% new French oak barrels before bottling without filtering or fining, yielding lush complexity and hedonistic richness with age-worthy structure placing it among the world’s greatest wines.
Celebrating the estate’s decades of success on its 20th anniversary, Clos Apalta’s Charles-Henri de Bournet declared “this is no time for complacency” – reflecting the estate’s never-ending drive for perfection, the outstanding 99 pt. 2019 Clos Apalta is equally appealing to those who already know it well and any lover of bold reds looking to explore the top tier of Chilean wines at an outstanding value. |