Robert Parker

This is a final blend composed of 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc, with the Merlot harvested October 3-8 and the Cabernet Franc harvested on October 9. Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2018 Poesia opens with notes of baked black cherries, mocha, spice cake, redcurrant jelly and black raspberries with nuances of dried roses, aniseed, candied violets and Christmas cake plus a waft of molten licorice. Full-bodied, rich and packed with red and black fruit layers, it has a solid structure of firm, finely grained tannins and compelling freshness, finishing very long and layered.

The 2018 Seña shows the fresher side of the Ocoa zone of the Aconcagua Valley through a Bordeaux blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Malbec, 15% Carmenere, 7% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot; there are small differences, but nothing substantial. As I've seen in other wines from the very complete 2018 vintage, the grapes ripened thoroughly and achieved more flavors and nuances, and the wines are slightly higher in alcohol (14% this year versus 13.3% in 2017, but in reality it's 13.8% ). But the wine seems to have more of everything. The grapes fermented in a combination of stainless steel and concrete vats and matured in new barriques and Stockinger foudres for 22 months, a similar formula as the one used for Viñedo Chadwick. This is a very elegant vintage of Seña, a year with a slow ripening so that the grapes achieved very good ripeness and full development of aromas and flavors, making the wine nuanced and complex, with depth but also freshness and finesse—floral and expressive. The tannins are very fine, polished and elegant, and the wine is long and complex, mixing the best f 2015 and 2016, coming through as a very complete year. It's still a little young and should develop nicely in bottle; it's approachable now, but if you can hold it a little bit more, it should be even better. This has to be the finest vintage of Seña to date. Comparing it with the Chadwick from the same year, there is more freshness and a little more complexity and clout coming form the cooler zone and the palette of varieties used that give more options to achieve more nuance.

There is more of everything in this 2016 Gran Enemigo Chacayes Single Vineyard. It's compact and seamless, with great purity, and more concentrated than the 2015 but with terrific balance, as the acidity (which is very high but you don't feel it) helps to counterbalance the massive palate and provide the necessary freshness. This is a beast that is going to age effortlessly for a good 15 years in bottle. All these wines age in used oak foudres for almost one-and-a-half years and are usually bottled around Christmas two years after the harvest. 5,000 bottles were filled in December 2018.

A blend of fruit from Barossa, McLaren Vale and Padthaway, the 2017 Bin 28 Kalimna Shiraz is meant to replicate the Northern Barossa style of its namesake vineyard, with opulent dark fruit, savory spice notes of pepper and licorice and a full-bodied, plush mouthfeel. It's a delicious Shiraz for drinking over the next decade or so.

The Podere Brizio 2015 Brunello di Montalcino (an estate owned by Dievole) is a full and generous wine ready for a serving of veal and vegetables. This is an elegant and impactful expression of Sangiovese that impresses thanks to the purity and the fine nature of its aromas. Delicate fruit nuances of dried raspberry and cherry cede to dried spice, earth and crushed flowers. Those glorious floral aromas are nicely underlined with layers of lilac, violet and lavender. A touch of dusty mineral fits in smoothly on the finish.

The 2015 Caiarossa is expressive and profound. A lot of dark fruit intermingles with spice and toast in what is an immediate and open wine. This is a complicated blend of Cabernet Franc (31%), Merlot (20%), Cabernet Sauvignon (17%), Petit Verdot (11%), Sangiovese (10%), Syrah (9%) and Alicante (2%). The result is full, generous and tight but with a subtle tingle of volatile acidity at the close. Some 37,800 bottles were made.