This latest release has 2% of Petit Verdot, adding a dash of dark pepper spice. It's a lovely wine, structured, intense but not tight, and beautifully balanced. There are some great liquorice and soft berry spice flavours, with notes of dark chocolate, cinnamon and sage. It has soft, smooth tannins which lend a supple texture to the wine. This gets better and better in the glass and has a freshness and grip that suggests great ageing potential.

2015 was a dry and warm year, and the 2015 Almaviva shows ripe and voluptuous, with a full body and sweet fruit on the finish. The varietal breakdown is 69% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Carménère, 5% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot; the high percentage of the Carménère, a constant in warmer years, comes from Puente Alto and also Peumo, the classical zone for the grape in Cachapoal. The élevage was in 82% new barriques and lasted 18 months. It's creamy and sleek, with polished tannins. It was a ripe and dry year, with higher yields than 2014, which is more concentrated; in 2015 the yields were a little higher with slightly larger grapes and bunches, and for winemaker Michel Friou, this results in better balance, with a ratio of skin to juice that is more balanced than in years when the grapes are smaller and might produce very tannic wines. However, the wines show very consistent in the last few years, always harmonious and combining power with elegance while showing the nuances from the year, which tend not to be huge. This has a little less alcohol than the 2014, and the day I tasted it, it showed more Cabernet Sauvignon personality. This is more approachable than the 2014. 180,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in January 2017. - The Wine Advocate, September 2018, Luis Gutiérrez

The 2015 Almaviva wears the heat of the vintage on its sleeve, leading with a warm, pointed nose of candied red fruits, dark spices, raspberry liqueur and toasted oak. The palate is opulent and concentrated, finishing with sweet, luscious fruits and a bit of alcoholic heat framed by drying tannins. While it is by no means over the top, it comes off a bit monotone compared to more nuanced harvests like 2010 and 2016 or more recent vintages in which the style at Almaviva underwent substantial refinement. I have trouble imagining this substantially improving in the cellar and feel it is best consumed in the near future.

69% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Carmenère, 5% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot. Tremendous richness and plushness to this. Excellent fruit intensity, which isn't just generic black fruit but has nuance and detail. Far more satisfying than plenty of Bordeaux 2015s! (RH)