13.9%

AWARDS & ACCOLADES

 Aromas of flowers, currants, fresh mint and Thai basil. Full body, structured and muscular with a toned texture. Bright and dynamic on the finish. Tangy finish under the fruit and wet earth highlights. Mostly cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, syrah, carmenere and merlot. This needs at least three to four years to come around.
 - 95 POINTS
- 95 POINTS
 The winemaker Cristián Vallejo refers to this 2013 by VIK as "the year of change", above all because of the greater proportion of cabernet franc entering the mix, a strain that has always - since the first harvest of 2010 - remained more well anonymous, but this year it has 17% of the total. And although the majority is still Cabernet Sauvignon (67%), the influence of the franc is tremendous, filling the nose of this wine with tobacco and herbal notes. But there is also more freshness here, more than in the first years. You feel more red fruit, more tension, more strength in acidity. The last time I was in VIK, we had the chance to taste all the years available in the winery (already finished wines) from 2010 to 2016, and the changes continue towards fresher wines. This 2013 is just the beginning of a small revolution.
  - 94 POINTS
(2021) The most expensive wine of the tasting at £100 per bottle, this is a Bordeaux blend of 67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Cabernet Franc, 14% Carmenere and a touch of Merlot. It comes from an ambitious young estate started just over a decade ago by Alex and Carrie Vik. The wine spends 23 months in a new French oak barrels. Winemaker Cristian Vallejo explains the estate has followed a quality path since day one, with very dense plantings of varieties researched to suit each of the 12 valleys spanned by their estate. They are even planning to use barrels from their own oak forest, and amphorae made from clay found on the estate. Great creamy depth here, a little hint of olive and then dry, savoury black fruit, some tobbaco and more exotic spices, but mostly about the fruit. In the mouth truly sumptuous, with great fruit sweetness and creaminess across the mid-palate, concentrated, but with lovely cherry-fresh juiciness, creamy tannins too, but the oak just caressing and supporting rather than dominating the picture. Very impressive.

 Powerful and well-structured, with medium-grained tannins and firm acidity supporting the plum and dried berry flavors. The minerally finish shows mature elements. Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenère, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Syrah.

 Stewy berry aromas are a touch soupy and herbal, with green notes and a hint of raisin. In the mouth, this is saturated, chewy and dense. Baked berry, black plum, cocoa and baking spice flavors finish steady but a touch flat. This is an excellent Chilean red by all standards, but one with limitations. Drink through 2025.

 They used more Cabernet Franc in the cooler 2013 vintage for the blend of their flagship 2013 Vik, which for the first time does not contain any Syrah. It's 67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Cabernet Franc, 13% Carmenere and 2% Merlot that matured in 100% new barriques for 23 months. It's 13.7% alcohol. However, I feel like the wine comes from a different oenological era, as there is a little more rusticity and more influence from the oak in the wine as well as quite high ripeness or sensation of ripeness in the fruit. In fact, when I asked about it, winemaker Cristian Vallejo explained that he calls 2013 "the year of change," when he understood the difference of their Cabernets with those from other regions. However, I think the change is more noticeable in 2014, as I tasted the 2014 next to this 2013. 54,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in October 2016.