For the Lapostolle family, the story of the founding of Clos Apalta is practically a legend.

In 1994, Alexandra Marnier Lapostolle visited the Apalta Valley, not far from the town of Santa Cruz in the Colchagua Valley. When she arrived, she saw something that was so improbable that she could barely believe her eyes: A vineyard originally planted in 1910 to Bordeaux grapes from 19th century massale selections—and on their own rootstock.

Phylloxera had ravaged France’s old vineyards at the turn of the 20th century, and so the Cabernet vines she was looking at were likely the oldest in the world. Even better, the whole vineyard lay on a mélange of soils so impressive that complexity and profundity were practically guaranteed.

That vineyard eventually became Clos Apalta, and those first Cabernet vines of legend—the very first block Alexandra laid eyes on—are now bottled on their own as the Lapostolle La Parcelle 8 Vieilles Vignes.

It’s a tiny production wine—Lapostolle makes nearly 200 bottles of Clos Apalta for every bottle of La Parcelle 8 that leaves their cellar—and its status as 100% Cabernet makes it a beautiful companion to its Bordeaux-inspired sibling.

Grown on biodynamically farmed vines with a century of age, crafted by 100-point maestro Michel Rolland, and given a no-expense-spared treatment in the cellar by one of the most committed families in wine, this is a wine that can stand proudly on the world stage. We’d happily drink it alongside bottlings that cost two or three times more.

The growing season in Apalta is long and even, meaning ripeness is almost guaranteed. The winery is sequestered in the horseshoe of the region’s coastal mountains, which cast shadows that mitigate the blinding sun, ensuring the grapes maintain their natural stock of acidity—and preserving a dancer’s grace and elegance in the naturally powerful wine.

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