Country: | Chile |
Region: | Colchagua Valley |
Winery: | Siegel |
Grape Type: | Sauvignon Blanc |
Vintage: | 2023 |
Bottle Size: | 750 ml |
Siegel San Elias Sauvignon Blanc is made from 100 percent Sauvignon Blanc
Pale in color with a goosberry bouquet, apple and citrus fruits aromas, and fresh zesty flavor.
Excellent aperitif or with salads, fish and poultry.
The Vina Siegel Crucero Estate
Alberto Siegel was born in Santiago in 1946, the third generation in Chile of an Austrian family. His grandfather was an Austrian architect that built some very important and traditional buildings in downtown Santiago, at the beginning of the 20th century, including the Chilean Federal Reserve.
His father, Don Germán, was a viticulturist that spent most of his career in charge of Viña San Pedro’s vineyards near the town of Molina, 140 miles south of Santiago. There Alberto grew up, literally in the middle of the vines. It was not a surprise when he decided to study Agronomy and specialize in winemaking at the Universidad Católica in Santiago.
After finishing high school, he spent a year working in wineries in Germany, and upon his return in 1971, he joined the German company Bayer. His job was to sell fertilizers to farm owners in the Colchagua area, 100 miles south of Santiago. Through this job he got to know almost every land owner, most of which were grape growers and wine producers.
A few years later and as a natural consequence, he started to act as a wine and grape broker, selling the production of small owners to the big Chilean wineries. He established Sociedad La Laguna, and he soon became the most important Chilean broker in this field, a position that he holds today by far. There is hardly any Chilean person or company involved in the wine business that has not dealt with Alberto Siegel at least once.
In parallel, and together with his father, Alberto founded Viña Siegel in 1980. They started planting vineyards in Colchagua and building the Winery in Santa Cruz. When Don Germán died in 1998, Alberto became the owner, together with his family. In the beginning, Viña Siegel only sold bulk wines to the biggest Chilean wineries, like Concha y Toro, San Pedro and Santa Rita. In 1997, Alberto decided to enter the bottled wines business and made the necessary investments to go ahead with this project.
Today, the winery has a capacity of over 3 million gallons and the company owns over 1,850 acres of vineyards in Colchagua. Their wine cellar has state of the art technology, such as vertical pneumatic presses, vacuum filters, and stainless steel tanks with total temperature control, for both cooling and heating. Viña Siegel Winery is still a family operation, with Alberto Siegel as chairman and chief winemaker. The winery has two consultants in enological matters.
The Vina Siegel Crucero Vineyard
The varieties of grapes grown are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Carménère, Syrah, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc, with other new varieties being added as markets demand. Viña Siegel is currently working with terroir consultant Pedro Parra to design a new site in Los Lingues, which will be planted with several new varietals, including Carignan, Grenache, and Mourvedre. The winery produces a range of varietal wines, along with reserve wines that highlight the quality of the grapevines born in this valley. The Colchagua Valley is truly a synthesis of the country’s way of life and wine has been produced here since time out of mind. This area, which has deservedly been raised to the category of estate bottling in wine making, has maintained its prestige due to the great quality of its wines. One of its noted symbols is its high quality Cabernet Sauvignons, and its red wines in general. Its variety of soils and climatic variations, some warmer, some cooler, have given the region innumerable attributes for grapevine cultivation.
Siegel San Elias Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon.
Fresh and delicate cassis tones, a great structure. Draw the cork half an hour before serving and serve at room temperature.
Smooth and fruity on the palate, the wine goes well with pasta, salads.
Siegel San Elias Merlot is 100 percent Merlot
Soft, rich and concentrated with juicy plum and blackberry fruits, soft tannins and a velvety texture.
Try with hearty stews, pasta and roast red meats.
Siegel San Elias Carmenere is made from 100 percent Carmenere.
The nose shows beautiful red and dark fruit aromas, earthy notes and violets with balanced acidity. Supple and round in the mouth, juicy tannins, good concentration.
The wine pairs well with full flavored cheeses and lamb.
Siegel San Elias Chardonnay is made from 100 percent Chardonnay.
This Chardonnay has a light yellow color with green highlights. The nose shows fresh and intense tropical fruit aromas of pineapple, citrus, herbs and a touch of honey. On the palate it is lush, smooth and well-balanced with good acidity and lovely tropical fruit flavors.
Siegel San Elias Merlot is 100 percent Merlot
Soft, rich and concentrated with juicy plum and blackberry fruits, soft tannins and a velvety texture.
Try with hearty stews, pasta and roast red meats.
Siegel Special Reserva Sauvignon Blanc Leyda is made from 100 percent Sauvignon Blanc
The grapes for the Gran Reserva wines are the product of a careful selection of Siegel's best vineyards in the Colchagua Valley, harvested by hand, and revealing a strong expression of the land.
The Gran Reserva wines represent the union of tradition and innovation in two generations. The grapes are sourced through careful selection of their best vineyards in the cool coastal Leyda Valley region. Siegel Gran Reserva Sauvignon Blanc offers a pale yellow color with green hues and reveals intense and complex aromas of grapefruit and pear accented by mineral notes. The palate is balanced and juicy with a vibrant acidity and a soft, lingering finish.
Aalto P.S. Pagos Seleccionados Tinto is made from 100 percent Tempranillo.
Climatic conditions
The farming year began with a mild autumn and little precipitation. A very dry winter started with -9ºC reaching at the end higher temperatures than normal for that time of the year. Spring and summer characterized by little rain, only some rain showers in July and late August avoided the hydric stress of the vines. The vegetative cycle of the vine developed with big variations of temperatures, alternating warm and atypical low temperatures of 4ºC for mid-June. The ripening of the grapes happened under very good conditions and the harvest started on 24th September 2019.
100% Tinto Fino (Tempranillo) primarily from very old vines – 60 to 90 years old – from selected plots in La Horra and La Aguilera. The harvest was done by hand, in small boxes of 15 kilos that are thoroughly inspected, bunch by bunch, on the selection table.
Tasting notes
Review:
Lots of depth here, with ripe blackberries and some nicely baked black cherries, roasted herbs, incense, dark spices, mussels and a balsamic tinge. An admirably fine dollop of tannins on the palate, which are immaculate and juicy, as they thoroughly dunk into the black fruit, melting into a persistent finish that lasts for over a minute. Very impressive. Drink or hold.
-James Suckling 96 Points
Clos Saint-Jean is a 41-hectare estate in Châteauneuf-du-Pape run by brothers Vincent and Pascal Maurel. Considered by many critics and wine-writers as the preeminent estate espousing the modern style of winemaking in Châteauneuf, this cellar is one of the oldest in the region, having been founded in 1900 by the greatgreat-grandfather of Vincent and Pascal, Edmund Tacussel. A short time after its founding and well before the AOP of Chateauneuf-du-Pape was created in 1923, Edmund began bottling estate wines in 1910.
The farming at Clos Saint-Jean is fully sustainable due to the warm and dry climate, which prevents the need for chemical inputs. Instead, Vincent and Pascal employ organic methods for pest control, mainly pheromones, to prevent pests from taking up residence in their vines, a process called amusingly enough in French, confusion sexuelle. The vines tended manually, and harvest is conducted in several passes entirely by hand.
Deus ex Machina is a literary and dramatic term for a miraculous intervention that interrupts a logical course of events in a plot or play. A suitable name for a cuvée that had it’s start in the torrid vintage of 2003 when Philippe Cambie and Vincent Maurel made the decision to harvest at the end of September, weeks after their neighbors. Deus ex Machina is a blend of old vine Grenache from La Crau, aged in tank with equally ancient Mourvedre from the sandy soils of BoisDauphin aged in demi-muid. Deus ex Machina is only made in the best vintages.
Review:
Lastly, the 2022 Châteauneuf Du Pape Deus-Ex Machina shows a similar profile to the Combes des Fous, yet it brings another level of tannins and concentration. Kirsch liqueur, white flowers, sandalwood, cured meats, and graphite notes all shine here, and it's full-bodied, has a deep, layered, powerful, yet weightless profile, lots of ripe tannins, and a blockbuster of a finish. This ripe, sexy, seamless, incredibly impressive beauty will compete with anything in the vintage. As usual, this cuvée is 60% Grenache and 40% Mourvedre, which is brought up in roughly 40% new demi-muids.
Review: Jeb Dunnuck 97 Points