Clos Apalta Reviews
Learn More About Clos Apalta through its Reviews.
2020 Clos Apalta Reviews
This wine is a blend of 64% Carmenere, 19% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot and 2% Petit Verdot.
99 Pointz James Suckling
"A really refined, expressive, and layered Clos Apalta with fine olives, incense, cigar box, cocoa powder, Spanish chocolate, pencil shavings, graphite, and fine spices. Juicy, bright, and full-bodied palate with a fine saline, savory twist. Very long and juicy. 64% Carmenere, 19% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot and 2% Petit Verdot. Real finesse from 2020. Drink from 2024.”
96 Pointz Vinous
"The 2020 Blend Clos Apalta is 64% Carménère, 19% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, and 2% Petit Verdot from Apalta, Colchagua. It was aged for 27 months in 85% new barrels. Rich purple in hue. The clearly defined, ripe, complex nose has a leafy character underlined by fruit such as prune and blueberry jam along with hints of pepper, tobacco, and rosemary, all packaged in a cedar cigar box. Creamy and broad in the mouth with good volume. The firm flow is channeled by appreciable structure in which polished tannins set the tone for an expansive, indulgent profile. A genuine Michel Rolland interpretation of a year with a rapid ripening season. Drink: 2025-2040.”
95 Pointz Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
"The grand vin 2020 Clos Apalta was produced with a blend of 64% Carmenere, 19% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, and 2% Petit Verdot from a ripe and warm year. It's ripe, concentrated, dense, and powerful, reflecting the house style and the conditions of the year, with more influence from the élevage than in the second wine, Le Petit Clos. It fermented with indigenous yeasts for five to six weeks, with manual punch-down of the cap in 7,500-liter French oak vats, followed by malolactic in new French oak barrels. The élevage was 27 months in 85% new barrels and 15% second-use barrels. It has a creamy, smoky, and spicy personality, with notes of sweet spices, such as cinnamon and vanilla, and ripe blackberries, and it is quite forward, ripe, and showy, with generous oak and 15% alcohol. It's lush with abundant, fine-grained tannins and a persistent finish. Give it a little more time in bottle, and enjoy with powerful food. It was bottled in August 2022. Drink 2024-2032.”
Bonus Reviews
United Kingdom
97 Pointz Decanter
"A great effort in the hot and dry 2020, COVID-19 vintage with the earliest harvest ever. The grand vin shows power, richness, and tons of fruit but retains a sense of charisma and direction that is so compelling. Bright, forward, sleek, and silky, tannins enrobe the palate creating a cushion for the ripe blackcurrants and blueberries, bright acidity, and underlying spice to meld together. A large percentage of Carmenere at 64% gives the fragrance and backbone while 19% Cabernet Sauvignon adds texture and depth, 13% Merlot bringing freshness and acidity and 2% Petit Verdot adding spice, colour, and richness. Only just beginning to really express itself with liquorice, eucalyptus, figs, plums and a salty-wet stone minerality that comes in on the finish. Despite the intensity, this is layered and well sculpted with tons of pleasure to be had with a few more years ageing. Ageing 27 months in 225L French oak barrels, 85% new, 15% two years old. 3.7pH. Winemaker and viticulturist Andrea Leon kept more leaf coverage, a thicker and higher trellis, and natural cover crops during the vintage to moderate the high temperatures. Bottles for this, and the second wine, are now made in Chile as of this vintage and have reduced in weight by 10% in a bid to increase sustainability. Clos Apalta now also featuring its name embossed in the glass at the bottom of the bottle. Drinking Window: 2026-2045.”
2019 Clos Apalta Reviews
This wine is a blend of 70% Carmenere, 18% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 4% Petit Verdot.
99 points James Suckling
“A generous array of ripe black and blue fruit with pink peppercorns, green olives, dried flowers, toffee, and chocolate orange. It’s full-bodied with firm, creamy, and velvety tannins. Long and polished. Lovely salted caramel and olives at the end. Keeps going. Unfolds on the finish. 70% Carmenere, 18% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 4% Petit Verdot."
96 Pointz Vinous
“The 2019 Clos Apalta from Apalta, Colchagua was aged for 24 months in 90% new French barrels. Dark purple in the glass. The complex, nuanced nose offers mild notes of mint, pyrazines, ash, and ripe dark fruit such as blackberry with hints of undergrowth and tobacco, cedar, and other aromas from the aging process. In the mouth, it’s indulgent and compact initially with refined, slightly reactive, young tannins, an expansive flow, and a rich palate that delivers herbal flavors before the sustained, fruity finish. The good year has helped to enhance the depth of an already accomplished red with a well-proven style.”
95 Pointz Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
“The 2019 Clos Apalta was produced with a blend of 70% Carmenere, 18% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 4% Petit Verdot, extremely high in Carmenere and low in Cabernet Sauvignon in a ripe and warm year. It fermented with indigenous yeasts for four to five weeks, with manual punch-down of the cap, 67% in 7,500-liter French oak vats and 33% in new French oak barrels followed by malolactic in new French oak barrels. The élevage was 24 months in 90% new barrels and 10% second use. It's powerful, big, and ripe, with 15% alcohol and a pH of 3.57. It's creamy and juicy, with very high ripeness and a notable absence of herbal notes; it's oaky, smoky, and decadent, coming through as luxurious, round, lush, and velvety. It's full-bodied and has abundant, small, and powdery tannins.”
95 Pointz Wine Spectator
“Balances muscle and grace in a complex package, with geranium and floral peppercorn-accented red currant notes up front, while the core is densely packed with blackberry and plum flavors that swirl around spiced chocolate details and swell with lively acidity. Ends with mineral twinges, firming tannins, and a final wave of kirsch and chocolate.”
95 Pointz Tim Atkins, Master of Wine
“Produced in a sunny vintage and picked at the riper end of the spectrum, this ought to be something of a blockbuster but actually carries its 15% alcohol comparatively lightly. Made with Carmenère and 30% Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Petit Verdot, it has tobacco leaf and dried herb aromas and a palate that combines oak sweetness with sculpted tannins, damson and blueberry fruit and a fresh, balanced finish.”
2017 Clos Apalta Reviews
This wine is a blend of 48% Carmenere, 26% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, and 1% Petit Verdot. From the Colchagua Valley, Chile.
100 Pointz James Suckling
"What a stunning nose of crushed berries, fresh flowers, sandalwood, and light vineyard dust. Black olives, too. Very complex. Full-bodied with a beautiful, dense palate of blackberries, chocolate, walnuts, and cigar box. Fantastic length and composure. The tannin just rolls over the palate. Very structured. The most classically structured wine ever from here. Goes on for minutes. Outrageous and so polished. A blend of 48% Carmenere, 26% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot and 1% Petit Verdot. Try after 2025."
95 Pointz Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
"The 2017 Clos Apalta is the 20th vintage of this wine that was produced with a blend of 48% Carmenere, 26% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, and 1% Petit Verdot from organic and biodynamic certified vineyards on granite soils. It fermented with indigenous yeasts for four to five weeks, with manual punch-down of the cap, mostly in 7,500-liter French oak vats and 18% in new French barrique. Malolactic was in new French oak barrels, and the élevage lasted for 27 months in 85% new barrels and 15% second use. This is always a powerful, big, and ripe wine that is regularly 15% alcohol, reflecting a warm and ripe place. The 2017 is no exception, perhaps a riper and more powerful wine than the 2016. It's still very young and marked by the élevage, with abundant balsamic aromas and notes from the wood—spice, and smoke with an ashy touch. It seems quite marked by the character of the Carmenere. The tannins are quite round and polished, and the flavors are pungent and powerful. It's a full-bodied wine to age in in bottle and enjoy in its 10th birthday with powerful food."
95 Pointz Wine Spectator
"This features an intensely rich and fruity aroma, with concentrated flavors to match, dominated by cherry tart, raspberry, and dark plum. Creamy midpalate, with a plush and spicy finish that offers hints of chocolate mint and plenty of minerality. Carmenère, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot. Best from 2022 through 2027."
94 Pointz Vinous
"The 2017 Red Blend Clos Apalta is a blend of grapes from Apalta: 48% Carménère, 26% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, and 1% Petit Verdot, aged in new and used French barrels in an 85/15 split. The ripe profile makes it a garnet red in the glass with an open, nuanced aromatic profile of spices, black currant, plum, and red currant somewhere between ripe and candied, along with hints of smoke, cigar box, and tobacco over a layer of ash. Intense in the mouth, it has fine, juicy tannins with an alcoholic kick that energizes the flow, packaged in a good body with an elegant structure. A wine that grows with each layer and sets a benchmark for the style. Drinking window: 2021 - 2032"
Bpmus Reviews
United Kingdom
94 Pointz Decanter
"Powerful in its concentration and focus, a deep plum colour with the same distinctive sumac and cardamon spice notes as Le Petit Clos, but here with a more serious grip, excellent balance in terms of its liquorice-laced blueberry fruits and a mouthwatering lift through the finish. 85% new oak that fits extremely well in the frame of the wine. 20th anniversary vintage. Now its own specific appellation within the Colchagua Valley. 1% Petit Verdot completes the blend. Certified biodynamic, with a number of ungrafted vines. Drinking Window 2023 - 2038."
2016 Clos Apalta Reviews
A blend of 64% Carménère, 19% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 17% Merlot.
99 Pointz James Suckling
This is really focused and refined with fantastic dried flowers and dark berries. Dried-lavender and mint undertones. Medium-to full-bodied with refined and polished tannins that are all together and so focused. Really integrated and melted together on the palate. Compact and very linear. Please give this two or three years to come completely together, but it’s already breathtaking. Better to drink after 2022.
96 Pointz Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Clos Apalta is a blend of 64% Carménère (higher than in 2015), 19% Cabernet Sauvignon and 17% Merlot hitting the scale at 15% alcohol with a pH of 3.7. The Carménère and Cabernet were planted ungrafted in 1920, and all the vineyards are organic and biodynamic (certified) and very low yielding. The hand-destemmed grapes fermented in oak vats and barriques (17%), and the wine went through malolactic and 26 months of aging in brand new French barriques. I've seen a great improvement in Carménère in Chile in the last few years, perhaps since they stopped wanting to grow it everywhere and focused on the places where it grows well, like the Apalta region. They have also learned to tame the green aromas and fierce tannins and alcohol and to produce much more harmonious reds, like this aromatic example that reveals spice, tobacco leaves, red fruit, and floral notes without noticeable alcohol or excess ripeness.
94 Pointz Wine Spectator
Refined, with savory richness to the mineral-infused raspberry, red currant, and herbal shadings. Creamy hints emerge midpalate, leading to a crisp, well-structured finish that lingers with slate and cast iron notes. Carmenère, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Drink now through 2025.
93 Pointz Vinous
A few mature wines still survive from the period that Michel Rolland spent in Chile, including Clos Apalta (a blend of 64% Carménère, 19% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 17% Merlot), demonstrating both the effectiveness and richness of the style. Taking an approach that suits the terroir of Apalta in Colchagua, this garnet-hued red offers ripe aromas of jam, camphor, and bay leaf that guide the hints of blackberry and an elegant woodiness that encompasses notes of sandalwood and tobacco. A complex wine that reflects its oxidative aging process; after a while, black olives, musk, and hazelnuts appear. It is rich on the palate with fine tannins and slightly intense woody notes. A long, mature, open, and flavorsome finish.
93 Pointz Wine & Spirits
Michel Rolland developed this wine for the Marnier-Lapostolle family at its estate in Apalta, where the old vines on the valley floor date to the 1920s, and younger vines climb the horseshoe-shaped hills. Now headed up by winemaker Jacques Begarie, the team began harvest in 2016 with merlot on March 10 (17 percent of the blend), continuing with cabernet sauvignon on March 18 (19 percent) and starting in on carmenère on April 12 (accounting for 64 percent of the blend). Those varieties come together in a powerful wine with a deep crimson color and rich lavender scents layered over tart plum flavors. The fine tannins show incipient complexity in their mineral length of savor. Cellar this for ten years or more.
2015 Lapostolle Clos Apalta Reviews
This wine is a blend of 46% Carménère, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc.
100 Pointz James Suckling
“There is a subtle complexity on the nose with currant, berry, fresh herb, and wet earth aromas. Cut fresh flowers, too. Full body, dense, and powerful. Incredible character here with such purity and polish. It goes on for minutes. Formed, sculptured yet soulful. A monumental wine for Chile. Unbelievable. More powerful than the 2014 which was 100 points.”
95 Pointz Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
“Despite the warm and dry character of the year, I find the 2015 Clos Apalta, a blend of 57% Carménère, 26% Merlot, and 17% Cabernet Sauvignon, to be less marked by the Carménère with more integrated oak and better freshness. There is more Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. It's spicy and herbal while ripe and powerful, full-bodied, and with plenty of dusty tannins. It has a strong personality, and I find more balance here. 73,452 bottles produced. Clos Apalta is now a completely separate project from Lapostolle, with its own vineyards and vineyard and winemaking team led by Jacques Begarie. They sell their wines, a first red, and a second red, in the manner of Bordeaux and behave like a Bordeaux property in all senses.”
Bonus Reviews
United Kingdom
95 Pointz Decanter
“Intense aromas of baked earth, liquorice, spice, cassis, and blueberry. Tightly wound, rich palate which is sleek, polished, and shows fine-grained tannins. This opulent and dense wine has polished oaking and a focused finish.”