Escudo Rojo Chardonnay Reserva
WHY WE LOVE IT
- This wine comes from Valle de Casablanca, situated near the Pacific Coast 80 km north west of Santiago. The ocean influence is very strong, helping to regulate the temperature. It is ideal country for white wine grape varieties, especially Chardonnay.
- Baron Philippe de Rothschild Maipo Chile’s winemakers have chosen Valle de Casablanca vineyards for their mild climate, which allows the grapes to ripen slowly, and for their soil: silty sand, which favors the refinement and freshness of the fruit, and granitic soil closer to the coastal mountains, which brings elegance. The wines are fresh and mineral, while keeping a certain power and a remarkable balance between alcohol and acidity.
Varietal Composition: 100% Chardonnay
Elaboration: The grapes are hand-picked in order to preserve all their freshness and aromatic potential. All the stages of the vinification process are carried out at low temperature in order to preserve the aromatic potential and freshness of the fruit. Half the vintage is matured in one-year-old oak barrels for about nine months to achieve a harmonious balance between oaky notes and the freshness of the fruit. 25% new oak and 75% 1-2 year-old barrels.
Tasting Notes: The aromatic power of Chardonnay is immediately apparent in voluptuous tropical fruit and yellow peach aromas, followed on airing by notes of gingerbread and toasted brioche. The palate is pleasantly full, the attack reveals the aromatic intensity of tropical fruit such as pineapple and passion fruit. The round and dense mid-palate displays a range of tropical fruit flavors together with notes of toasted almond and mild spices such as cumin and cinnamon, building to an attractively long finish on elegant touches of toasted hazelnut, mild spice and pineapple.
PRESS
2017 – 92 James Suckling
2018 – 90 Vinous | 92 James Suckling
2019 – 90 Vinous | 93 James Suckling
2021 – 92 James Suckling
PRODUCER BACKGROUND
Located at Buin-Maipo, 45 kilometers south of Santiago in the famous Maipo Valley, the Baron Philippe de Rothschild Maipo Chile bodega stands in its own 63-hectare (156-acre) vineyard. The wines are made, matured, bottled and packaged at the estate under the supervision of a French winemaker and under the control of an in-house laboratory. For each of its wines, the winery selects the best parcels in Chile’s most highly reputed valleys in order to make wines which consistently combine refinement and character. Regular sources of supply and constant quality are also guaranteed by long-term contracts with partner winegrowers, especially further south, in the Rapel Valley. A rigorous parcel selection procedure has been created, with each parcel being tested for three years in order to ensure that the grapes are of sufficiently high quality to be used to make Escudo Rojo.