Clos Apalta, Domaines Bournet-Lapostolle

The curved wooden staves of Clos Apalta jut out of the rolling hillside like a barrel, merely hinting at the flurry of activity going on in the seven-floor gravity fed winery carved 35 metres down into the rock below. Finished in 2005, it is the pièce de résistance of an ambitious project by Grand Marnier heiress Alexandra Marnier Lapostolle and her husband Cyril de Bournet: to make Old World Bordeaux blends that would put this New World region on the map.
Dreamt up in 1994, that mission was officially accomplished in 2018, when Apalta was awarded its own Denomination of Origin to recognize the microclimate setting it apart from the surrounding Colchagua Valley. But the Clos Apalta wines have even longer won accolades, seamlessly combining French finesse with the fruits of this exceptional terroir. The vines are some of the oldest in the area, imported from Bordeaux before the Phylloxera crisis and planted as far back as 1915, and they sit within a horseshoe-shaped valley that encases Clos Apalta in a natural amphitheatre of native forest, providing a total immersion for the estate’s guests.
Clos Apalta has a micro-climate which is significantly distinct from the general climate of Chile. It could be called semi-Mediterranean, with winter rains and a long, dry summer; weather conditions that allow the grapes to reach optimum maturity. The extreme thermal oscillation favors the accumulation of anthocyanins which creates the deep, rich color of the wines.
COLOR
Dark rich red with purples hues.
NOSE
Expressive nose with red fruit such as black and red cherry, figs and plums. with a spicy and black pepper notes.
PALATE
Complex and concentrated with broad tanins that open up the palate, with intense structure that bring more fruit and spices towards a very long finish.