Tarapacá Gran Reserva 145th Anniversary Special Edition 2019 (Chile) - Wine Review

I've tasted and enjoyed many wines from Viña Tarapacá over the years, including most recently the 2019 Viña Tarapacá Gran Reserva Carmenère back in March. For tonight's wine review, we celebrate 145 years of tradition at Viña Tarapacá with this delicious, new red wine from Chile that arrived at the LCBO over the weekend (should be in stores any day now), as part of the LCBO VINTAGES Release on October 30th.

Founded in the foothills of the Andes mountain range in 1874, Viña Tarapacá developed a reputation for crafting elegant and quality wines to become one of Chile's most traditional and historical wineries, as well as a benchmark for viticulture in Chile. Originally known as "Viña de Rojas" by founder and renowned winemaker Don Francisco de Rojas y Salamanca, the Tarapaca name enters the picture in 1892 when Doña Mercedes, the ex-wife of Don Antonio Zavala, became owner of the property as part of her alimony and renamed the winery to "Viña Tarapacá Ex Zavala" to express her gratitude to "The Lion of Tarapacá", Mr. Don Arturo Alessandri - one of the most influential Chilean politicians of the 20th century. More recently, in 2008 Tarapacá helped form part of VSPT Wine Group to become the second-largest exporter of Chilean wine.

To celebrate Viña Tarapacá's 145 years of tradition in creating wines of exceptional quality, they created this Special Edition wine from the 2019 vintage that reflects Tarapaca Estate's commitment to biodiversity. In 2016, Viña Tarapacá inaugurated their mini hydroelectric plant - a renewable energy project designed to harness the water flow from the irrigation canal that is present on the estate and supplied by the Maipo River and generates up to 60% of the energy consumption at the winery. Energy not used by Viña Tarapacá is fed back into the country's national grid. VSPT Wine Group is also awarded Green Company of the Year at the 2016 Green Awards and is recognized as a leader in Renewable Energy Implementation thanks to its firm commitment to sustainability.

Tasting Note:

TARAPACÁ GRAN RESERVA 145TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL EDITION 2019 - DO Valle del Maipo, Chile (#21966) (XD) - $20.95
This delicious red wine is composed of 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Cabernet Franc, and 16% Syrah, all from vineyards planted in 1990 on the granitic hillsides of their property in Isla de Maipo. The fresh, medium-high to highly aromatic nose delivers notes of ripe blackberry, black cherry, dried herb, olive, and peppery spice with savoury undertones and a touch of meat. It's medium-full bodied with pleasing dark berry and peppery spice replays, if slightly grapey, on the palate. Acids are fresh and juicy, while the youthful, drying tannins need some time to integrate. More ripe dark berry with savoury earthy notes linger on the dry, chalky finish, with very good length. This recommended buy will be even better in a couple of years and continue to drink well over the next 6-7 years. Score: 90 pts

Other lovely wines by Viña Tarapacá are available at the LCBO, as well as through their Agent - Dandurand.