At first, I thought that vertical tasting of New World wines did not make much sense because much more uniform growing seasons and systematic and controlled use of irrigation in New World vineyards would contribute to uniform vintages.
Moreover, New World wines have not been proven to age as long as Bordeaux wines. Roman Weil, co-chairman of the Oenonomy Society of the US and Professor at the University of Chicago, found that 240 wine drinkers asked in a survey to taste wines ranging from four to 17 years beyond their vintage could not distinguish between wines of good and bad vintages, except for Bordeaux wines, and even when they could make a distinction, the match between the tasters' individual assessments and the charts' rankings were little better than tossing a coin.
However, the vertical tasting of Chilean blockbuster Almaviva of vintages 2007, 2001, 1999 and 1998 at a wine dinner at Riva, the Park Lane Jakarta last month, was an exciting time-bound exercise although Puente Alto where the wines come from is a year-long climatically stable viticultural region as Almaviva commercial manager Diego Garay said.
He added that unlike France, Chile issues no vintage chart. This suggests that variance in vintages is perhaps not very significant, and that it does not or has not yet merited a vintage chart.
Here, the excitement lies in the progression of the wines from the start to the end of the dinner where the wines, presented from the youngest to the oldest, are generally characterized by their evolution from New World to Old World sensations.
For those who did not wait long enough for the wines to develop in their glass, the 2007, just entering the market, might be the best pick of the evening. It was brimming over with the irresistible allure of New World charm: it was broad, forward, full-body, concentrated, round, delicious and very fruity wine with ripe, silky tannins, a prevailing nose of sweet ripe cassis giving way to notes of incense.
Its strong alcoholic content (14.5 percent) apparent in the nose, the first or two hours after it was poured in the glass were the best moment to enjoy it because afterwards it closed off (at about 22:00) and a vegetable (cooked mung bean) flavor started to dominate.
The 1999 was another attraction similar to the 2007. It tasted delicious and savory with sweet cassis flavors and traces of its gorgeous younger sister in a toned down version which, coupled with a lower alcoholic content of 13.5 percent, made it look more elegant and led some diners to opt for it as the best wine of the evening.
Instead of incense, the 1999 sported notes of eucalyptus - typical for Cabernet Sauvignon from the Maipo Valley of which Puente Alto is a subdivision.
With the notes of spicy black pepper being present at different intensities at a time, the 1998 was the choice of Bordeaux-minded diners. From the onset, it tasted more like a delicious, refined classy French wine rather than a fruit-driven, vibrant New World wine, which is hardly surprising given its age but which also alienated diners who have grown accustomed to Almaviva's broadness.
Not as big as the 1999, this wine showed a telltale sign of fast aging as apparent in its low acidity and tannins. "Maximum another two years from now," Diego told me when I asked him how it would age, which is surprising given that it came from a magnum bottle (equivalent to two bottles or 1500 ml) in which the aging process should have been slower.
This is a case in point which shows the effects of a climatic change on wine from Chile where normally, according to Diego, "weather conditions are so stable we can wait harvesting until the grapes reach perfect ripening."
In Jakarta, 1998 was marked with lots of sun and very little rain. In Puente Alto, dubbed the best place in Chile for growing Cabernet Sauvignon, the year was characterized by lots of rain during winter and the growing season and cooler temperatures (due to cold winds) because of El Ni*o.
The resulting Almaviva - produced by Patrick Leon (former winemaker of the fabled Chateau Mouton Rothschild) and Enrique Tirado (current winemaker of top Chilean "Don Melchor" wine by Concha y Toro) - is thus more refined and French-like (not as big as in a hot year) but ages faster.
So, 1998 is a weak vintage made great due to excellent winemaking techniques and this year and the next two years appear to be the best time to enjoy it before it goes downhill. Another factor responsible for its faster aging seems to be the lack of Petit Verdot, which provides extra tannins, color and structure.
Diego told me that parts of Puente Alto vineyards are planted with Merlot (1 percent) and Petit Verdot (another 1 percent) respectively. "But they are still very young now. They don't have the complexity to be incorporated into the wine," he said. This indicates that something is amiss in the blend.
Even though Almaviva is promoted as a Bordeaux blend, it contains no Petit Verdot, and about 20 percent of Almaviva is Carmen*re instead of Merlot. Well, it is true that Carmen*re was a variety used in the original Bordeaux blend in pre-phylloxera red Bordeaux but the Carmen*re comes from Chile's stronghold of Cabernet Sauvignon .
The 2001 was a dark horse. At the onset, it oozed an unpleasant damp smell, which was transformed into leather, banana, ash, smoky flavors but this change was not immediately reflected in its rather dull taste profile. Made from 70 percent Ca-bernet Sauvignon, 27 percent Carmen*re and 3 percent Cabernet Franc, the 2001 turned stunningly exciting at 23:12, which was surprising because all the Almavivas including this one were already decanted one hour prior to serving.
It took almost five hours before it became very elegant with flavors of dark chocolate, conserved berries, and exciting acidity underlined by great tannin structure. It was, for me, the evening's best Almaviva but which also revealed the fickleness of the amorous Count, a character in Pierre de Beaumarchais' Marriage of Figaro, which Mozart later turned into an opera.
Almaviva is available at VIN+ in Kemang. It retails at Rp 2-2.5 million/750 ml bottle or Rp 4.5-5 million/magnum bottle.
