The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Casa Real, from Alto Jahuel, spent 20 months in barrels, 83% of them new. Garnet red with a purple sheen. The nose presents black currant, blackberry, cedar, balsamic and ashy notes from the aging process, as well as orange peel, graphite and a minty backdrop. The best qualities are the broad, polished tannins and the silky feel. Lingers at length at the back of the mouth, leading to a fruity, complex finish followed by an aftertaste of sour cherry.
It doesn't get much more classical than the 2019 Casa Real Cabernet Sauvignon, a textbook example of a Maipo Cabernet with the list of classical descriptors: lead pencil, cedar wood, blackcurrants, mint, balsam, earth and spice. It's juicy and ripe without excess, with 14.5% alcohol, a soft palate and round tannins and a dry finish 14,500 bottles produced. It was bottled in November 2021 after 20 months in barrel, 82% of them new, but the oak is neatly integrated in the wine.
Densely flavored, but remarkably polished and elegant, this red unfolds around a core of raspberry coulis and rooibos tea flavors, swelling with energy midpalate and gaining details of floral cassis, and chai spices. Ends with tremendous length, displaying suave, well-integrated tannins and an echo of espresso bean. Drink now through 2028. 2,000 cases made, 80 cases imported.
Savory anise and red peppercorn with herbal black cherries, damsons and undergrowth. This is a tight and bright cabernet on the palate, showing exuberant red berries and firm but round tannins. Fluent, quite long and spicy. Drink or hold.
Aromas of green bell pepper, tobacco, and black fruit fill up the bouquet of this smooth wine sourced from old vines in Alto Jahuel. On the palate, hints of spices appear alongside ripe black cherries, plum, blueberry, and oaky flavors. It has firm tannins and lingering chocolate notes on the finish.
TWI
92pts
The Wine Independent
Made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2019 Casa Real Cabernet Sauvignon is medium to deep garnet colored. It rolls out with expressive scents of stewed red and black plums, redcurrant jelly, and fresh, juicy blackberries, plus suggestions of bay leaves, pencil shavings, and forest floor. The full-bodied palate is jam-packed with juicy black and red berry flavors, supported by firm, grainy tannins and bold freshness, finishing with an herbal lift.
Winery Notes
This super-premium wine is the outcome of a careful selection of grapes from Santa Rita’s finest and most historic vineyard at the winery’s famed Alto Jahuel Estate in Chile’s Maipo Valley. Low yields from mature 40-year-old vines favor a rich, supple, full-bodied red, endowed with smooth, enduring tannins and fruit. This is a wine that will continue to evolve and develop in complexity over a period of many years.
100% Cabernet Sauvignon Fully-ripened grapes are hand picked in a vineyard first planted in the mid 1950s. Grapes are partially crushed and fermented in French oak barrels, permitting ideal temperature control, for about 12 days, followed by another 15 days of pos-fermentation maceration. After malolactic fermentation, the wine is stored in 100% new French oak barrels for 16 months, with a racking off after 6 months to obtain a finer evolution of it tannins. The wine is bottled and aged for a further year prior to release.