2020 Viña Vik Winery VIK

Type of Wine | Red |
---|---|
Country | Chile |
Region | Colchagua Valley |
Winery | |
Vintage | 2020 |
Grape | , |
Content (Alc) | 0.75 ltr (14%) |
Drink window | 2025 - 2036 |
In stock
9 items available
Description
The 2020 VIK reveals the unique expression of DOs Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Millahue Valley’s multiple microclimates influence the wine’s deep complexity, linear acidity and delicate freshness. Cooling, often humid, coastal breezes from the cold Pacific temper hot afternoons and cool nights, producing Cabernet Sauvignon that is elegant, powerful and dynamic, and Cabernet Franc that is delicate and distinctly mineral.
The VIK is the top model and is a blend of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon and 24% Cabernet Franc. The vines are planted on very different terroirs (limestone, sandy gravel) with a density of 7,500-10,000 vines per hectare. After manual harvesting in 10 kilo baskets and a strict selection of the grapes by hand on selection tables, the must underwent a maceration of 16-35 days (depending on the grape variety) at 27°-29°C, of course with regular bâtonnage. The malolactic fermentation was carried out in barriques. The grape varieties were vinified separately, which had been matured for no less than 26 months in oak according to the Barroir principle and only blended after extensive tastings by the oenologists. The wine will not be released until the end of 2023 and it is recommended to open it from 2024, but with more time the wine will improve even further.
The nose is aromatic, floral and very refined. In the mouth the wine is lively and tense with silky round fine-grained tannins and aromas of ripe blackberries, red plums with wild thyme in the aftertaste. Very concentrated taste without being too heavy or alcoholic. Complete top wine. This is one of the most beautiful Cabernet wines that can compete without any problems with the most beautiful Napa Valley and Bordeaux wines. Suckling writes in his review (99/100): ".....This is a fabulous wine with dark berries, dark chocolate and freshly cracked walnuts. ...."
Of course this is an ideal wine with the most refined meat but actually this wine is so beautiful that it should be drunk solo. This wine deserves your full attention.
In the tab: Attachment 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. The wine is in our conditioned Wine Warehouse and if you come to pick up the wine you will often also receive a nice discount . You will see your discount immediately when you choose 'Pick up' on the checkout page. We are located in Dordrecht almost next to the A16 with plenty of parking. Click here for our address.
About Viña Vik Winery
In 2004, Alex and Carrie Vik started a team with the audacious goal of making one of the best wines in the world. After a two-year search, they found the best terroir, located in the Millahue Valley in Chile. Millahue Valley means "Place of Gold".
The vineyard is planted in the interior of the valley and offers 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 was carefully designed to have minimal impact on the landscape. A state-of-the-art, highly sustainable, technologically creative and visually stunning experience. The winery was completed in 2014.
Under the leadership of Chilean Patrick Valette (wine consultant, Château Pavie and with French roots) and current winemaker Cristián Vallejo, who has been involved in the project from the beginning, a beautiful company has been established since 2005. The work is very sustainable, harvests are completely manual and fermentation takes place naturally without added yeasts.
Today VIK produces four exceptional red wines and one rosé. They are rightly very proud that well into the 1990s VIK, La Piu Belle, Milla Cala and "A" have received awards such as 99 points from James Suckling, a Master Medal from The Drink Business and Platinum and Gold Medals from the Decanter, along with many other accolades.
A water mirror in the wine cellar cools the barrel cellar without consuming energy. The translucent roof allows daytime work without artificial light. Inspired by the purity of our wines, we have developed the concept of "Barroir". We toast used and new French barrels with oak from our hills and build our own barrels in our cooperage. These estate-made barrels 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, naming VIK the Wine Star for ‘Best Winery Experience’. In 2021, the competition ranked VIK as the 8th most prestigious winery among the 50 World’s Best Vineyards, and iViña Vik has quickly joined the ranks of Chile’s iconic wines and now the global top.
Read more under the tab: Winery with some nice videos about the wines and the winery.
Specifications
Type of Wine | Red |
---|---|
Country | Chile |
Region | Colchagua Valley |
Icons | Icon South America |
Winery | Vina Vik Winery |
Grape | Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon |
Biological certified | No |
Natural wine | No |
Vegan | No |
Vintage | 2020 |
Drinking as of | 2025 |
Drinking till | 2036 |
Alcohol % | 14 |
Alcohol free/low | No |
Content | 0.75 ltr |
Oak aging | Yes |
Sparkling | No |
Dessert wine | No |
Closure | Cork |
James Suckling rating | 97 |
Tasting Profiles | Complex, Droog, Houtgerijpt, Krachtig, Rood fruit, Tannines, Vol |
Drink moments | Indruk maken, Open haard |
Professional Reviews
James Suckling
Vik Valle de Cachapoal VIK 2020
Friday, December 8, 2023
CountryChile
RegionValle Central
Vintage2020
CHECK PRICE
DOWNLOAD SHELFTALKER
Score
97
This almost has a “minty” freshness from the oak with some pine cones, incense and dark spices to the cassis and sweet tobacco. Vibrant and juicy on the full-bodied palate with spiced berries, good tension and very structured, fine-grained tannins. The amount of juiciness here is quite rare for 2020. Very long and spicy finish. 76% cabernet sauvignon and 24% cabernet franc. 50% Barroir new oak (French barrel toasted with local oak trees from the property). Excellent effort from 2020. Needs some time to come around. Drink from 2025.
Zekun Shuai
Senior Editor
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua...
98
"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.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua...
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Sign in to unlock professional wine reviews from world-renowned critics
Wijnhuis
The absolute top from Chile is, without a doubt VIK Wines. All wines receive unanimously very high ratings with scores of 98 and 99 out of 100 points. They have four red wines and also launched a rosé in 2022. At VIK, science, technology, and knowledge are the basis, with passion as the engine.
The holistic approach is the perfect combination between man and nature; the base and result of the beautiful dynamic terroir, together with best agriculture practices and excellence in environmental management, gives wines in which only the very best is good enough. In 2019, VIK received the "Best Winery Experience" award from the prestigious Wine Enthusiast magazine in recognition of all the work done during these years.
James Suckling also highlighted VIK's wine innovations, such as the "Barroir" concept, making the terroir concept the purest. The idea is a pioneering process in Chile and the world. Using local oaks, VIK also developed its "barroir" concept to give a sense of place to the oak aging process. With the help of Jean Luc Sylvain of Tonnellerie Sylvain, VIK winemaker Vallejo believes the "barroir" process gives them the precision they want from micro-oxygenation and the subtle flavors of barrel aging. Click here for more information about the Barrier process.
The vineyards are planted in 12 small valleys, totaling 327 hectares of vines. More than 6,000 soil analyzes were performed to match the clonal selection of rootstocks and varieties.
Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenere, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Syrah are planted varieties. Soil types include colluvial, alluvial, sand, clay, and gravelly. The VIK wines are seen in style as the Bordeaux but then of the best kind.
The viticulture concept at VIK is based on optimizing every stage of grape growing and wine production, with a significant focus on science and technology. All are based on reaching optimum levels of maturity in the fruit in each valley to make the best wine. Yield isn't just quality that counts. To obtain only the best quality grapes, they carry out up to three nightly harvests when the grapes are chilled —and always by hand.
Winemaker Cristian Vallejo oversees VIK agriculture, ensuring the grapes are harvested by hand and fermentation occurs naturally with no added yeasts. The wines are aged in a combination of new and used French oak barrels. Currently, the winery is introducing wines aged in amphorae custom made from the vineyard's clay and wines aged in oak barrels roasted with the estate's oak wood.
The VIK wine cellar was designed by celebrated Pritzker Prize candidate Chilean architect Smiljan Radic in collaboration with Alex and Carrie Vik and the team at VIK. It has been carefully designed to have minimal impact on the surrounding landscape.
At VIK, sustainable development is another fundamental pillar that stems from caring for the environment in which the grapes grow. Some of the (far-reaching) measures are:
- We can reuse water to irrigate the vineyard with our own water treatment plant.
- The vines are surrounded by 10,000 hectares of forest.
- Taking care of the natural biodiversity at VIK: there is a great diversity of wildlife (ducks, cormorants, swans, eagles, pumas, etc.) thanks to its geographically isolated location in the interior of the VIK valley.
In addition, the proximity of the forest to the vineyard promotes healthy plant development and a good balance between flora and fauna.
- Have a highly sustainable, state-of-the-art winery using free cooling, solar energy, and natural insulation.
The 5 wines of VIK are:
VIK-A
MILLA CALAI
LA PIU BELLE
LA PIU BELLE ROSÉ
VIK
VIK and Milla Cala grapes come from vineyards in the Los Lazos Valley, the Los Mineros Valley, and the El Boquerón Valley. In contrast, the fruit for La Piu Belle comes from the Almendro Valley, the La Feria Valley, and the Colchagua Valley.
The 2020 VIK reveals the unique expression of DOs Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Millahue Valley’s multiple microclimates influence the wine’s deep complexity, linear acidity and delicate freshness. Cooling, often humid, coastal breezes from the cold Pacific temper hot afternoons and cool nights, producing Cabernet Sauvignon that is elegant, powerful and dynamic, and Cabernet Franc that is delicate and distinctly mineral.
The VIK is the top model and is a blend of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon and 24% Cabernet Franc. The vines are planted on very different terroirs (limestone, sandy gravel) with a density of 7,500-10,000 vines per hectare. After manual harvesting in 10 kilo baskets and a strict selection of the grapes by hand on selection tables, the must underwent a maceration of 16-35 days (depending on the grape variety) at 27°-29°C, of course with regular bâtonnage. The malolactic fermentation was carried out in barriques. The grape varieties were vinified separately, which had been matured for no less than 26 months in oak according to the Barroir principle and only blended after extensive tastings by the oenologists. The wine will not be released until the end of 2023 and it is recommended to open it from 2024, but with more time the wine will improve even further.
The nose is aromatic, floral and very refined. In the mouth the wine is lively and tense with silky round fine-grained tannins and aromas of ripe blackberries, red plums with wild thyme in the aftertaste. Very concentrated taste without being too heavy or alcoholic. Complete top wine. This is one of the most beautiful Cabernet wines that can compete without any problems with the most beautiful Napa Valley and Bordeaux wines. Suckling writes in his review (99/100): ".....This is a fabulous wine with dark berries, dark chocolate and freshly cracked walnuts. ...."
Of course this is an ideal wine with the most refined meat but actually this wine is so beautiful that it should be drunk solo. This wine deserves your full attention.
In the tab: Attachment 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. The wine is in our conditioned Wine Warehouse and if you come to pick up the wine you will often also receive a nice discount . You will see your discount immediately when you choose 'Pick up' on the checkout page. We are located in Dordrecht almost next to the A16 with plenty of parking. Click here for our address.
About Viña Vik Winery
In 2004, Alex and Carrie Vik started a team with the audacious goal of making one of the best wines in the world. After a two-year search, they found the best terroir, located in the Millahue Valley in Chile. Millahue Valley means "Place of Gold".
The vineyard is planted in the interior of the valley and offers 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 was carefully designed to have minimal impact on the landscape. A state-of-the-art, highly sustainable, technologically creative and visually stunning experience. The winery was completed in 2014.
Under the leadership of Chilean Patrick Valette (wine consultant, Château Pavie and with French roots) and current winemaker Cristián Vallejo, who has been involved in the project from the beginning, a beautiful company has been established since 2005. The work is very sustainable, harvests are completely manual and fermentation takes place naturally without added yeasts.
Today VIK produces four exceptional red wines and one rosé. They are rightly very proud that well into the 1990s VIK, La Piu Belle, Milla Cala and "A" have received awards such as 99 points from James Suckling, a Master Medal from The Drink Business and Platinum and Gold Medals from the Decanter, along with many other accolades.
A water mirror in the wine cellar cools the barrel cellar without consuming energy. The translucent roof allows daytime work without artificial light. Inspired by the purity of our wines, we have developed the concept of "Barroir". We toast used and new French barrels with oak from our hills and build our own barrels in our cooperage. These estate-made barrels 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, naming VIK the Wine Star for ‘Best Winery Experience’. In 2021, the competition ranked VIK as the 8th most prestigious winery among the 50 World’s Best Vineyards, and iViña Vik has quickly joined the ranks of Chile’s iconic wines and now the global top.
Read more under the tab: Winery with some nice videos about the wines and the winery.
Type of Wine | Red |
---|---|
Country | Chile |
Region | Colchagua Valley |
Icons | Icon South America |
Winery | Vina Vik Winery |
Grape | Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon |
Biological certified | No |
Natural wine | No |
Vegan | No |
Vintage | 2020 |
Drinking as of | 2025 |
Drinking till | 2036 |
Alcohol % | 14 |
Alcohol free/low | No |
Content | 0.75 ltr |
Oak aging | Yes |
Sparkling | No |
Dessert wine | No |
Closure | Cork |
James Suckling rating | 97 |
Tasting Profiles | Complex, Droog, Houtgerijpt, Krachtig, Rood fruit, Tannines, Vol |
Drink moments | Indruk maken, Open haard |
James Suckling
Vik Valle de Cachapoal VIK 2020
Friday, December 8, 2023
CountryChile
RegionValle Central
Vintage2020
CHECK PRICE
DOWNLOAD SHELFTALKER
Score
97
This almost has a “minty” freshness from the oak with some pine cones, incense and dark spices to the cassis and sweet tobacco. Vibrant and juicy on the full-bodied palate with spiced berries, good tension and very structured, fine-grained tannins. The amount of juiciness here is quite rare for 2020. Very long and spicy finish. 76% cabernet sauvignon and 24% cabernet franc. 50% Barroir new oak (French barrel toasted with local oak trees from the property). Excellent effort from 2020. Needs some time to come around. Drink from 2025.
Zekun Shuai
Senior Editor
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua...
98
"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.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua...
Exclusive Content
Sign in to unlock professional wine reviews from world-renowned critics
The absolute top from Chile is, without a doubt VIK Wines. All wines receive unanimously very high ratings with scores of 98 and 99 out of 100 points. They have four red wines and also launched a rosé in 2022. At VIK, science, technology, and knowledge are the basis, with passion as the engine.
The holistic approach is the perfect combination between man and nature; the base and result of the beautiful dynamic terroir, together with best agriculture practices and excellence in environmental management, gives wines in which only the very best is good enough. In 2019, VIK received the "Best Winery Experience" award from the prestigious Wine Enthusiast magazine in recognition of all the work done during these years.
James Suckling also highlighted VIK's wine innovations, such as the "Barroir" concept, making the terroir concept the purest. The idea is a pioneering process in Chile and the world. Using local oaks, VIK also developed its "barroir" concept to give a sense of place to the oak aging process. With the help of Jean Luc Sylvain of Tonnellerie Sylvain, VIK winemaker Vallejo believes the "barroir" process gives them the precision they want from micro-oxygenation and the subtle flavors of barrel aging. Click here for more information about the Barrier process.
The vineyards are planted in 12 small valleys, totaling 327 hectares of vines. More than 6,000 soil analyzes were performed to match the clonal selection of rootstocks and varieties.
Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenere, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Syrah are planted varieties. Soil types include colluvial, alluvial, sand, clay, and gravelly. The VIK wines are seen in style as the Bordeaux but then of the best kind.
The viticulture concept at VIK is based on optimizing every stage of grape growing and wine production, with a significant focus on science and technology. All are based on reaching optimum levels of maturity in the fruit in each valley to make the best wine. Yield isn't just quality that counts. To obtain only the best quality grapes, they carry out up to three nightly harvests when the grapes are chilled —and always by hand.
Winemaker Cristian Vallejo oversees VIK agriculture, ensuring the grapes are harvested by hand and fermentation occurs naturally with no added yeasts. The wines are aged in a combination of new and used French oak barrels. Currently, the winery is introducing wines aged in amphorae custom made from the vineyard's clay and wines aged in oak barrels roasted with the estate's oak wood.
The VIK wine cellar was designed by celebrated Pritzker Prize candidate Chilean architect Smiljan Radic in collaboration with Alex and Carrie Vik and the team at VIK. It has been carefully designed to have minimal impact on the surrounding landscape.
At VIK, sustainable development is another fundamental pillar that stems from caring for the environment in which the grapes grow. Some of the (far-reaching) measures are:
- We can reuse water to irrigate the vineyard with our own water treatment plant.
- The vines are surrounded by 10,000 hectares of forest.
- Taking care of the natural biodiversity at VIK: there is a great diversity of wildlife (ducks, cormorants, swans, eagles, pumas, etc.) thanks to its geographically isolated location in the interior of the VIK valley.
In addition, the proximity of the forest to the vineyard promotes healthy plant development and a good balance between flora and fauna.
- Have a highly sustainable, state-of-the-art winery using free cooling, solar energy, and natural insulation.
The 5 wines of VIK are:
VIK-A
MILLA CALAI
LA PIU BELLE
LA PIU BELLE ROSÉ
VIK
VIK and Milla Cala grapes come from vineyards in the Los Lazos Valley, the Los Mineros Valley, and the El Boquerón Valley. In contrast, the fruit for La Piu Belle comes from the Almendro Valley, the La Feria Valley, and the Colchagua Valley.