Aquitania: Learn everything about this Chilean vineyard and its Cabernet Sauvignon

Viña Aquitania in its 30-year history is recognized for producing grapes in two unique terroirs in Chile, from which high-quality, elegant wines with a great identity originate. In the Maipo Andes, Peñalolén is the birthplace of Cabernet Sauvignon wine, its smoothness, finesse and identity are attributes that have given this Chilean wine its international prestige. Aquitania is a pioneer in cultivating vineyards in Traiguén, Valle del Malleco, the quality of these Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc wines are distinguished by their balance and quality.

In 1984 Bruno Prats and Paul Pontallier (RIP), well-known winemaking agronomists from the Bordeaux region, France, began to search Chile for a high-quality terroir to create an original vineyard.

To do this, they team up with a mutual friend, Felipe de Solminihac, a French-born Chilean winemaker agronomist. In 1990 they acquired 18 hectares in Peñalolen within the city of Santiago: This place at the foot of the Andes Mountains, is located in the “Quebrada de Macul”, in the historic heart of the Maipo Valley.

The first plantations are made with Cabernet Sauvignon of Bordeaux origin, present in Chile since the end of the 19th century. The wine cellar was completed in 1993 and in January 2002 Ghislain de Montgolfier, an agronomist from the Champagne region and an old friend of the founders, became the fourth partner, or as he says, recalling the novel by Alexandre Dumas, the fourth Musketeer.

Today the second generation of the founders is taking control of the vineyard, in the commercial area helping sales all over the world.

Aquitania is the second Cabernet Sauvignon wine from Viña Aquitania. The partners of the vineyard wanted to name and make a wine named after the region of Aquitaine or Aquitaine in southwestern France, from where Brunos Parts and Paul Pontallier, as well as Felipe de Solminihac’s family, come from. A wine aged 12 months: 50% in French oak barrels and 50% in stainless steel vats.

The vineyard, being located at the foot of the Andean mountain range, receives the cold breeze that comes down from the mountain range, giving the grapes the vegetable and distinctive aromas of the mountain range, which translates into fresh minty aromas, sometimes combined with camphor, and very spicy, which gives a great complexity and a typicity very different from other Maipo Valley wines that originate at a much lower altitude.

View: It has a ruby ​​red color with violet edges.

Smell: Notes of strawberries, blackberries and blueberries, along with hints of vanilla, cloves with a hint of toast and menthol.

Taste: It is a wine that at first feels intense, with character and good structure, little by little it breathes and manages to be a wine of great elegance.

Pairing: With a wine that is a Cabernet Sauvignon base, I can think of nothing else but red meats, game meats, pasta with strong sauces and mature cheeses such as Parmesan, Emmental and Gruyère.