Top 100 wines of Rapel Valley - Page 3

Discover the top 100 best wines of Rapel Valley of Rapel Valley as well as the best winemakers in the region. Explore the varietals of the wines that are popular of Rapel Valley and the best vintages to taste in this region.

Discovering the wine region of Rapel Valley

Rapel Valley is a large wine-producing region in Chile's Central Valley. Made up of the Colchagua and Cachapoal valleys, the area produces roughly a quarter of all Chilean wine. The Warm, Dry region makes a wide range of wine styles, ranging from everyday wines to some of Chile's most expensive and prestigious offerings. Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Carmenère are the most important grape varieties planted here.

In general terms, Rapel Valley wines are produced primarily from red varieties, but there are some plantings of Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. Plantings of Malbec are also on the rise, presumably seeking the success enjoyed by this variety in Mendoza, just the other side of the Andes. Rapel Valley runs directly South for 60 miles (100km) from the edges of Maipo Valley to the furthest edge of the Colchagua province. Flanked on both sides by mountain ranges – the Andes and the Coastal Range – Rapel Valley is sheltered from the cold influences of the Pacific Ocean.

The region takes its name from the Rapel River, a confluence of the Tinguiririca and the Cachapoal, whose courses divide the valley into two sub-regions, Colchagua Valley in the south and Cachapoal Valley in the North. As is the case in most Chilean wine regions, the river is a vital resource, bringing fresh, mineral-rich meltwater down from the upper Andes. Rapel Valley's two sub-regions are quite distinct from each other. In Cachapoal Valley, the best vineyards can be found primarily in the east, where the Andean foothills provide a well-drained, sheltered location for viticulture.

Discover the grape variety: Carmenère

Carménère is a grape variety of Bordeaux origin. It is the result of a cross between Cabernet Franc and Gros Cabernet. In France, it occupies only about ten hectares, but it is also grown in Chile, Peru, the Andes, California, Italy and Argentina. The leaves of the carmenere are shiny and revolute. Its berries are round and medium-sized. Carménère is susceptible to grey rot, especially in wet autumn. It can also be exposed to the risk of climatic coulure, which is why it is important to grow it on poor soil and in warm areas. Carménère is associated with an average second ripening period. This variety has only one approved clone, 1059. It can be vinified with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. It produces a rich, highly coloured wine, which acquires character when combined with other grape varieties.

Food and wine pairing with a wine of Rapel Valley

wines from the region of Rapel Valley go well with generally quite well with dishes of shellfish, vegetarian or goat cheese such as recipes of scallops with saffron, light tuna-tomato quiche (without cream) or green pizza.

Organoleptic analysis of wine of Rapel Valley

On the nose in the region of Rapel Valley often reveals types of flavors of cherry, bay leaf or dried fruit and sometimes also flavors of cigar, bell pepper or green bell pepper. In the mouth in the region of Rapel Valley is a powerful.

News from the vineyard of Rapel Valley

Hitting the right note

Last year, there was much mirth on wine Twitter about a particularly excruciating tasting note. You’re right. The wine trade needs to get out more. But still… this one was a beauty. It began well enough – really quite beautiful, in fact. But before long the imaginative descriptions were getting more ornate and strained. It moved from poetic to meaningless before finishing with a reference to Burnt Norton – the first of TS Eliot’s Four Quartets – that put it firmly in Private Eye magazine’s ...

Northern Rhône 2021: full report and top-scoring wines

Northern Rhône 2021 overall vintage rating: 2.5/5 Consistently excellent white wines, but reds very mixed due to severe frost and a mild, rainy season. Some are weak and green, others very good in a fresh and structured style. ‘The style of 2021 is light, lean and fresh, with high acidity, low alcohol and strict tannins…but for many producers making red wines, 2021 will be a year best forgotten. For white wines, the opposite is true.’ Northern Rhône 2021 red wine of the vintage M Chapoutie ...

’Low and no’ drinks trend gathers pace, says UK survey

Low and no alcohol drinks are becoming increasingly popular in the UK, according to a new YouGov survey commissioned by The Portman Group, the industry self-regulatory body. Nearly one third of respondents said they chose low or no alcohol drinks on a ‘semi-regular’ basis, up from one in four in a similar survey a year earlier. Its results fit with analysis that consumer demand for ‘low and no’ drinks is growing strongly in several developed countries. Portman Group and YouGov define ...