Winery - Santa Helena
* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Murky and vegetal, without much concentration. The palate is chunky and green, and it doesn’t hold up to air. Decent at first but loses it as time passes.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Santa Helena has moved to the Colchagua Coast for its SB, and the results are impressive. This wine is pungent, cool and citrusy, with grapefruit, mineral, saline and fresh asparagus on the nose and palate. It’s slightly sheering and lemony but honest and snappy to the max. Tangy late and very nice overall.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Way beyond satisfactory, with smoky leather to go with the red fruit and oak aromas. Typical cassis and plum carry the lively palate, which is tight and tannic but tasty and full of excitement. Not complex, but ripe and forward. Good Cab in the under-$20 category.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
A big, flavor-packed Cabernet with a hard-hitting nose of black fruit and sweet oak. Monster blackberry, cherry and cassis flavors are accented by chocolate and pepper, and only on the finish do the hard tannins get aggressive. Excellent flavor; a bit hard in terms of mouthfeel.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Broad pear, apple and vanilla aromas arise from copious oak, yet a woody element really sticks out on the palate. Fortunately there’s a good mouthfeel to the wine and ample acidity. For oak fans.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
A little oaky and leathery at first, but as a whole this wine sings a nice song. The palate is firm and structured, with a lot of forward oak as well as juicy wild blackberry flavors. Lightly roasted and salinic on the finish, with length.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
The nose isn’t as expressive as the ’03, but there’s enough green apple and underripe banana on the palate to keep it in shape. Finishing notes of vanilla are cut by healthy acidity, and while the wine seems thick, it’s not cloying.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
A little generic, but overall this is a nice, simple, easy-to-like Cab with clean aromas and good structure and flavors. The nose is snappy, while the palate is driven by cherry, raspberry and plum flavors. Lasting and lively on the finish, with a modicum of complexity.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
Aromatics of dill and vanilla are straight from the Old World, but otherwise this is modern and flush. Aromas of cedar and wood resin are also present in front of a tannic, roasted palate that features soft berry fruit, cola and medicinal flavors. Ripe, big and sweet; starts like Rioja and finishes like classic Chilean Cabernet; includes 17% Merlot and Carmenère.
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* Expert NoteJanuary 12, 2012
A bit soupy to begin with; the nose is herbal and a touch brambly, with a certain grittiness. In the mouth, it’s grabby and tannic, with full black cherry and blackberry flavors. Dark, toasty and charred as well, with more size than elegance. A good wine but nothing out of the ordinary.
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