Lapostolle Clos Apalta Red Blend 20Th Anniversary 2017 (Limited Release)

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.

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. 2017 is no exception, perhaps a riper and more powerful wine than 2016.

Powerful in its concentration and focus, a deep plum color 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 licorice-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