Casa Lapostolle - Clos Apalta 2019

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. Drink or hold."

DECANTER: "A dark, brooding nose with hints of smoked meat and figs. Juicy and intense, you get power and acidity and poise. There is lots of finesse in this wine, you feel the step up from the second wine in the detail of the slightly grainy but very present tannins and the sculpting of the fruit - blackcurrants, red cherries, plums and balsamic touches. A real stylish element to this, it's generous and giving but not too overtly. It's still rich and concentrated and you do get the 15% alcohol - but feels like they've taken the foot off the pedal slightly allowing the different elements to shine in their own right. Smooth and totally seductive, the texture and the lingering slightly chalky element stays on the tongue while the fruit lasts and lasts. A lovely wine. This has one of the highest percentages of Carménère ever at 70% with 4% Petit Verdot completes the blend. Aged 24 months in French oak barrels (90% new) followed by one year in bottle. Biodynamic."

THE 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. 103,944 bottles produced. It was bottled in June 2021."