2021 Vinedo Chadwick Maipo Valley Chile 750 ml

In South American wine circles, Eduardo Chadwick is talked about in reverential, hushed tones. He’s achieved legendary status, and his list of accolades is jaw-dropping: He’s the man behind Chile’s first 100-point wine. He also organized the famed 2004 Berlin Tasting, which did for Chilean wine what the 1976 Judgment of Paris did for California. Chadwick’s wines claimed the top two spots, ahead of 100-point bottles from Bordeaux First Growths. 

That’s why Robert Mondavi tapped him to create South America’s version of Opus One—but while that wine, Sena, is widely known, Chadwick’s personal project remains too small and in such high demand that it’ll never achieve household-name status.

He planted the vineyard behind Viñedo Chadwick in 1992, on his family’s property in the Puente Alto region of the Maipo Valley. Chadwick scoured the world for Cabernet clones for the site, and ended up using a massale selection, with cuttings from an assortment of the greatest Cab vineyards on the planet. 

Nestled in the foothills of Chile's Andes Mountains at 2,000 feet, Viñedo Chadwick benefits from a perfect climate dance. Cool mountain breezes sweep down each morning, but warm daytime temperatures drive ripeness. The region's dry summers and modest winter rainfall concentrate the grapes on the vine, creating intense Cabernet Sauvignon that ripens slowly and develops fine-grained tannins.

The estate is also planted on the third terrace on the Maipo River’s northern bank. It’s where the most prestigious estates of the area are located, as the soils are older, the drainage better, and there are high concentrations of calcium carbonate, the main component of limestone. The combination gives Viñedo Chadwick a brilliant combination of muscular power and supple tannins.