You probably expected our No. 1 wine from Chile this year to be one of the highly coveted icon wines, but we decided instead to honor the biodynamically produced Emiliana Valle de Colchagua Los Robles Estate Gê 2018, which highlights the country’s growing interest in organic and biodynamic viticulture as well as Rhone-inspired wines. We rated 1,088 bottles from Chile this year, our biggest review ever from the South American nation.
A blend of syrah with carmenere and cabernet sauvignon, the Gê 2018 offers layer upon layer of black fruit with spicy, peppery and meaty notes, combined with an irresistibly velvety texture and prolonged finish. Like many of the wines on our list, it offers a high quality-to-price ratio, retailing at around $55 – compared with an average of $111 for the rest of our Top 10s. But out of our Top 100 Chilean wines, 32 cost $20 or less.
Emiliana’s rise to first place and its consistent excellence (the Gê 2017 took fourth place last year) is well-deserved recognition for Chile’s biodynamic wine scene. Emiliana is the top producer of organic and biodynamic wines in Chile and has been at it since 1998, with Gê becoming the first certified biodynamic wine in South America in 2003 – its inaugural vintage.
THE WINNER: Emilana’s Alejandro Mitarakis on what went into the making of Chile’s 2021 Wine of the Year.
‘HERE TO STAY’
“The organic concept and especially the biodynamic concept, which was much more complex to understand, was something very new – and like all new things, it took time for people to understand it,” Alejandro Mitarakis, whose family is one of the key shareholders of Emiliana, said during a Zoom call I had with him. But he believes the biodynamic path is the right one for Emiliana “not only because of the quality we achieve today in our wines, but also because of the positive impact that this kind of agriculture has on the planet and the people.”
“We really believe that it is something that is here to stay, and that we will only continue to evolve and incorporate more producers and followers around the world,” he added.
Other biodynamic wines in our Top 100 included Clos Apalta Valle de Apalta 2018 (No. 7), which is a cooler, more refined expression of the carmenere and Bordeaux varietal blend, Seña Valle de Aconcagua 2019 (No. 9), Emiliana Pinot Noir Valle de Casablanca Signos de Origen El Rincon 2020 (No. 17) and wines from Hacienda Araucano, Francois Lurton and Viña Koyle.
Our No. 1 wine exemplifies the continued growth in both quality and volume of syrah and Rhone varietals or blends in Chile’s Mediterranean climate. Thirty-one of our Top 100 wines are Rhone-inspired wines, of which 20 are syrahs – an increase of three from 2020’s Top 100 Chile list.
Syrah, capable of producing contrasting expressions based on terroir and climate, has found success along the length of Chile. We found stunning, dark-fruited examples from the Central Valley region, such as Polkura Syrah Valle de Colchagua Marchigue Block g+1 2018 (No. 10) and Montes Syrah Valle de Apalta Folly 2018 (No. 12). Wines from Matetic, Undurraga and Villard from the Aconcagua region also impressed, with Undurraga Syrah Valle de Leyda Terroir Hunter 2019 (No. 25) reminiscent of a top Cote-Rotie. And Santa Rita and Tabali made full-bodied, polished syrahs further north in the Limari Valley.
READ MORE A DIFFERENT CHILE: GREATNESS BECKONS, BUT IS IT A LEAP TOO FAR?
DIVERSITY ON DISPLAY
At No. 2 on our Top 100 list is the Montes Carmenere Petit Verdot Valle de Colchagua Purple Angel 2018. A blend of 92 percent carmenere with 8 percent petit verdot, it’s a great example of Chile’s signature grape: polished and creamy, with a fantastic nose of sage and five spice underneath the blue and black fruit, culminating in a peppery and spicy finish.
For sterling models of Chilean cabernet sauvignon, Viñedo Chadwick Cabernet Sauvignon Valle de Maipo 2019 (No. 3), Viña Don Melchor Cabernet Sauvignon Puente Alto 2019 (No. 4) and Lapostolle Apalta La Parcelle 8 Vieilles Vignes 2015 (No. 5) are standouts. All three are perfumed and aromatic, full-bodied and structured yet refined and fresh. The Chadwick Valle de Maipo 2019, the only 99-point wine on our list, comes with a touch of petit verdot, and it is subtle and beautiful, infused with aromas of currants, tarragon, basil and rose petals.
Chile’s diversity is reflected by the quality of its varietal wines from carignan, with six wines in the Top 100, coming in after syrah (20 wines), cabernet sauvignon (12 wines), pinot noir (nine) and carmenere (seven). Five wines from Vignadores de Carignan (VIGNO), a group of independent producers reviving carignan wines in the Maule region, featured on our list. Lapostolle, Odfjell, Gillmore and Viña Morandé all made vibrant, fragrant, structured and racy reds from dry-farmed old carignan vines, while Garage Wine & Co Cariñena Valle de Maule Empedrado Cru Truquilemu Field Blend 2018 (No. 58), was also produced from old-vine carignan co-fermented with syrah, and is a layered, silky red with firm and seamless tannins. Passionate, artisanal producers are pushing the boundaries with regards to terroir, varieties and winemaking – although still a drop in the ocean of Chile’s mass-volume wine production.
READ MORE: HOW A BAND OF SMALL PRODUCERS ROCKED CHILE’S WINE SCENE
SPECIAL VINTAGE: Eduardo Chadwick of Seña wines tells James about the 25th anniversary bottling of the Seña Valle de Aconcagua 2019.
ROAD TRIP TO CHILE: Highlights from our 2020 Chile tasting trip.
CHARDONNAY SHINES
Chilean chardonnay continued to shine this year, with four wines, all rated 94 or 95 points, ending up on our list. They all showed fantastic concentration and depth. But it is unfortunate that there were only six white wines in Chile’s Top 100, plus one orange wine: Siegel Viognier Valle de Colchagua Naranjo 2019 (No. 80). Only one semillon featured this year, Carmen Semillon Apalta Quijada 2019 (No. 75), compared with four last year. Here is a clear opportunity for wineries to take their portfolio of quality wines to the next level.
The main criteria for selecting this year’s list of the top Chilean wines were quality and price, as well as what we call the “wow” factor: wines that excite us emotionally as well a technically as tasters. There were no perfect wines this year from Chile and only one wine at 99 points. It is also somewhat disappointing that there were not more Chilean wines in this year’s Top 100 wines of the world (the first four wines on this list).
This appears to be a continuing trend of many Chilean wineries content to make good wines at a high quality-to-price ratio, rather than striving for perfection. Neighboring Argentina also offers value wines, but with six wines in the world Top 100 and with a higher average score, its top tier seems to be surpassing that of Chile. We are also concerned with the ever-increasing prices for Chile’s top wines taking away some of the luster for some wine drinkers.
Nonetheless, we are certainly impressed with Chile’s ability to offer affordable wines. The overall average price of the Top 100 wines is $43 per bottle, but there is a clear price gap, and polarisation continues to be an issue. The 12 wines at 97 points and above average $115 per bottle, compared with $23 for the 45 wines at 93 points on this list. There is certainly room for further investment in quality winemaking, and we would like to see more wines in the 95-plus range.
“I think winemakers must understand where they are, know their different soils in the vineyard, understand the climate in their specific region … [and] try to go from a wider view to a more specific one,” Mitarakis said. And with consumers demanding better quality wines, we hope that more winemakers continue to strive for greatness and demonstrate the full potential that Chile has to offer.
– Claire Nesbitt, Associate Editor
The list of wines below is comprised of bottles tasted and rated in 2021 by the tasters at JamesSuckling.com. You can sort the wines below by vintage, score and alphabetically by winery name. You can also search for specific wines in the search bar.
