The 2020 La Piu Belle was produced with a blend of 68% Carmenere, 23% Cabernet Sauvignon and 9% Cabernet Franc, fermented in stainless steel and matured in barrel, 45% of them new and from Chilean oak, for 26 months, including malolactic, with 15% of the wine kept in clay pots produced from the clay in their soils. It's quite ripe and heady and hits the scale at 14.7% alcohol with 3.36 grams of residual sugar. This comes from a warmer part of the vineyard and is mostly Carmenere, so it has a slightly different profile from the rest of the reds. It's peppery and herbal with high ripeness, a round and lush palate that's generously oaked and with some tannins that would welcome powerful food. 80,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in November 2022.
VIK VALLE DE CACHAPOAL LA PIU BELLE 2020
Monday, March 6, 2023
Country
Chile
Region
Valle Central
Vintage
2020
Score
96
Ripe and plush to the nose with some opulent spicy fruit, blackberries, dark plums and a hint of chocolate. Full-bodied and rich on the palate with dense, nicely chewy tannins and a pretty long finish. Nice acidity freshens it up. A blend of carmenere, cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc. 23 months in barrels, of which 45% is new Barroir oak (French barrels toasted with local oak trees). Around 15% of the wine was aged in amphorae made with local clay for eight months. Drink from 2025.
93$108VIKLa Piu Belle Cachapoal Valley 2019A medium-bodied red, with a lovely undercurrent of fresh herbs and chocolate cosmos, this displays a caressing mouthfeel and flavors of olallieberry and Rainier cherry. Shows just a slight tingle of acidity that moves things along, finishing with fine tannins and notes of spiced chocolate. Carmenère, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Merlot. Drink now through 2030. 10,000 cases made, 1,000 cases imported.
The 2019 Red Blend La Piu Belle consists of 44% Carménère aged in amphorae, 41% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Syrah, and 1% Merlot from Millahue, Cachapoal. Garnet red in color, with intense floral notes, sweet spices, blackberry and prune, it’s juicy and fruity on the palate, where grippy tannins make themselves felt on the gums. Broad and medium-volume.
- By Joaquín Hidalgo on June 2022
Norwegian businessman Alexander Vik arrived in Cachapoal in 2006 and set up a luxury hotel and a winery on a 4,200-hectare estate in the Millahue region. The property, situated on the north side of the Cordón Apalta, contains 323 hectares of vineyard, whose grapes are processed at a pretty winery under the supervision of Cristian Vallejos. Following the 2018 harvest, the focus has shifted to the brands Vik, La Piu Belle and Milla Cala.
"Alex and Carrie Vil are the Art-Collecting Couple behind two of South America's best Boutique Hotels. Their newest project, a hotel and winery in Chile's untamed Millahue Valley is their most ambitious yet." - Salma Abdelnour
Condé Nast Traveller
"Norwegian-born financier and hotelier Alexander Vik has been hailed for his attention to detail at his celebrated hotels in Uruguay. He and his wife Carrie have applied the same Nordic precision when creating Viña Vik, one of Chile's most ambitious wineries, from 4,400 hectares of scrub-covered hillside in the Cachapoal Valley. Star winemaker Patrick Valette, who learnt the trade at his family's Chateau Pavie in France, established the vineyard from scratch, planting 303 hectares of high-density, drip-fed Cabernet and Carmenere vines that yielded the first ultra-premium blend in March. "
The New York Times
"But the alchemy of this beautiful spot is not just a lucky accident; the land under us had been analyzed and dissected extensively in a lab to see what would thrive here. "We wanted to bring the quality of a top estate in Bordeaux," said Patrick Valette, the head winemaker at Viña Vik, stopping to take a look at a particularly ripe bunch of grapes, "while emphasizing what makes the Chilean terroir so unique". … This is especially evident at the Viña Vik, which, though separated from Colchagua by the imposing mountain range, has similar, if not better, conditions for grape growing: plenty of sun, an ideal level of precipitation and varied altitudes and soil types. The estate itself has a state-of-the-art cantina, designed by a star Chilean architect, Smiljan Radic. Results suggest that they are on the right path: their first vintage, the 2009, sold out at $100 a bottle — though we were able to get a taste before it did; it is a delicious red blend, combining five different grapes, with complex flavors of ripe fruit and a long finish. For Old World palates like mine, it’s a familiar taste but one different enough to prove exciting — like a continent-spanning offshoot of Bordeaux. And Mr. Valette believes that the 2010 vintage, released last November, is even better. -Victor Ruiz Caballero
James Suckling Com
"Exceptional. VIK is certainly the new star of Chile. - Jessica Harnois, President of the Canadian Association of Professional Sommeliers.
Christian Callec Com
"The place is really fabulous, like the Eldorado in your best dreams; an island of peace and beautiful nature, in a place that even well-informed Chilean wine professionals never heard of. And yet, the heavenly site of Millahue in the Cachapoal valley is not much than 1 hour away on horse-back from the well-known Apalta, just the other side of the hill… But Viña VIK is much more than only a paradisiacal place; it is a wonderful that becomes reality. The dream of one man, Alexander VIK. This famous Norwegian businessman might be one of the richest people in the world, he is also and may be on the first place, a sensible and very sensitive person with a great love for nature and culture. His big dream was to have his own vineyard. Therefore, Alexander VIK asked the famous French-Chilean wine specialist and consultant Patrick Valette, to find the best place in South-America to realize this big dream.
VIK's La Piu Belle is a blend of 44% Carmenere, 41% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Syrah, 1% Merlot coming from the Andean vineyards in Millahue, Cachapoal Valley. The soil consists of elm, porous decomposed granite soil with good drainage. The wine has been aged for 24 months in 85% French oak and 15% Barroir (roasted oak barrels from trees on site).
La Piu Belle is a brilliant intense wine. Deviating from the many Carmanere driven wines because we are talking about an elegant and fresh wine and not about the often very 'jammy-like' wines. The altitude, the cool humid wind from the pacific ocean and the big difference between day and night temperatures gives an amazing wine with black fruits and refreshing herbs with flowers, such as violets and lavender and rose petals that very elegantly frame the complex layers of flavors. This together with beautiful acidity creates a great balance and makes us long. The Piu Belle shows the other personality of the Carmenere, the elegant and complex side. FThis is a meditative wine to enjoy and dream away with. The art on the bottle also makes it a jewel and is of course recommended with beef fillet filled with goat cheese accompanied by gnocchi of pumpkin and sage. Also delicious with smoked duck breast, grilled salmon.
Suckling writes in his review (95/100): ".....This is seamless and polished, underscored by ultra-fine, almost ethereal tannins, before a lengthy finish. ...."
In the tab: Annex you will find the official factsheet of this wine. We will automatically send it to you when you order this wine. Here you will also find a nice presentation about VIK. Under the tab: Winery you will find extensive information about the winery with a number of interesting videos
About Vina Vik Winery
In 2004, Alex and Carrie Vik started an entire team with the audacious goal of making one of the best wines in the world. After a two-year search, the best terroir was found in Chile's Millahue Valley. Millahue Valley means "Place of Gold".
The vineyard is planted in the interior of the valley, offering a variety of terroirs and small microclimates cooled by the coastal breeze. The vineyards consist of Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenere, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Syrah.
The winery was designed by Chilean architect Smiljan Radic in collaboration with Alex and Carrie Vik. It has been carefully designed to have minimal impact on the landscape. A state-of-the-art, highly durable, technologically creative and visually stunning experience. The winery was completed in 2014.
Under the leadership of the Chilean Patrick Valette (wine consultant, Château Pavie and with French roots) and the current winemaker Cristián Vallejo involved in the project from the start, a beautiful company has been set up since 2005. We work very sustainably, harvesting is completely manual and fermentation takes place naturally without added yeasts.
Today, VIK produces four exceptional red wines and a rosé. They are justifiably very proud that VIK, La Piu Belle, Milla Cala and "A" have received ratings well into the 90's such as 99 points from James Suckling, a Master Medal from The Drink Business and Platinum and Gold Medals of the Decanter, along with many other awards.
A mirror of water in the wine cellar cools the barrel cellar without consuming energy. The translucent roof makes it possible to work during the day without artificial light. Inspired by the purity of our wines, we have developed the concept of "Barroir". We roast used and new French barrels with oak from our hills and build our own barrels in our cooperage. These barrels made by the estate embody the taste of the terroir. Because they approach all work holistically, they only use fallen hundred-year-old trees that can be found on the immense estate.
In 2019, Wine Enthusiast Magazine unveiled their 20th Annual Wine Star Awards and named VIK the Wine Star for 'Best Winery Experience'. In 2021, the competition ranked VIK as 8th prestigious winery among the 50 World's Best Vineyards and iViña Vik has therefore very quickly joined the icon wines from Chile and is now also among the global top.
Read more under the tab: Winery with a number of beautiful videos about the wines and the winery.
This wine really packs a punch! It's like a fruit market in your nose, bursting with ripe, spicy fruit. Imagine juicy blackberries, plums, and a little something that smells like chocolate. Take a sip and you'll find it's pretty rich, full-bodied, and oh so smooth with some seriously thick tannins. It's got a long finish too, which is always nice. There's a decent bit of acidity that brightens the whole thing up.
