Undurraga Aliwen Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon Syrah 2024

This cuvée comes from the Maule Valley, in the south of Chile's Central Valley, under the DO Valle Central appellation. Cooler and wetter than the northern valleys, this region with its Mediterranean climate offers red grape varieties slow, even ripening. The vineyard is drip-irrigated. Undurraga, founded in 1885 in the Maipo Valley by Francisco Undurraga, is one of the historic houses of Chilean wine.

The grapes are harvested by hand and then fully destemmed. Fermentation takes place in stainless-steel tanks for seven days, at between 28 and 30 °C, with selected yeasts, followed by a fifteen-day maceration and malolactic fermentation in tank. The wine is then aged for nine months in American and French oak barrels; the two varieties are only blended after ageing.

This wine reveals notes of blackberry, blackcurrant, plum, black cherry, black pepper, clove, coffee and vanilla. Ripe fruit dominates the bouquet, enriched with spices and toasty notes from the oak. It is an elegant, full-bodied wine with firm tannins, balanced and finely oaked through to a savoury finish.

It was Hernán Cortés who ordered the cultivation of vines upon the conquest of Mexico in 1524. It gradually spread from Mexico southward, reaching Chile in 1555. During the first three centuries of colonization, only país, a characterless and very productive black grape variety, was cultivated in Chile. It was not until the mid-19th century that noble varieties were introduced: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Sauvignon Blanc, and Chardonnay, mainly. Twenty years later, winemaking was modernized under the impetus of wealthy landowners and French experts who had been forced out of work by phylloxera in Europe. Chile stretches 4,300 kilometers from north to south. It is sandwiched between the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Andes Mountains to the east, the Atacama Desert to the north, and the Patagonian plains and glaciers to the south. These natural barriers prevented phylloxera from entering the country. Although the country is only 160 kilometers wide, it enjoys ideal conditions for growing grape varieties from warm, intermediate, and cool regions, so much so that it is often described as a vineyard paradise. With nearly 300 estates producing bottled wines, Chile ranks between 6th and 8th in the world.