Viña Tarapacá Ex Zavala came into being in the nineteenth century, in 1874, and was then named “VIÑA DE ROJAS” after its founder, Don Francisco de Rojas y Salamanca, a well-known businessman of that period. With fine vines imported from France, Don Francisco established the vineyard on the foothills of the Andes Mountains, planting grape varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot for red wine, and Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon for white wine.

Fine Chilean Wine

Viña Tarapacá’s 2,600 hectare vineyards are located in Isla de Maipo, a privileged location of the Maipo Valley, where they not only take advantage of the qualities of the most emblematic valley for fine wine production in Chile, but also the excellent topography – with the Maipo River bordering it’s vineyards, and being surrounded by mountain ranges of the Andes and the Coast Mountain Ranges, making it the perfect microclimate for the development of their wines.

Vin Vino Direct are proud to offer the vineyards ‘Los Sarmientos’ range of wines – offering 4 different grape varieties; Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.  The wine we are featuring today is the fine Cabernet Sauvignon…all of our Los Sarmientos wines have been reduced in price from £8.50, to now only £6.80

Tasting notes: This wine is full of soft red fruit with gentle spices that dominate the aromas and flavours of this intensely coloured Cabernet Sauvignon. This is a beautiful red wine which lends itself perfectly to a Sunday roast with the family or a relaxing night-in with friends.

Vinification process: The vinification process of red wines starts out by crushing the grapes and separating them from the stalks. The juice, skin and pips are then macerated in stainless steel vats during the alcoholic fermentation stage (5 to 7 days), which is carried out at a temperature of 25 to 28 Celsius degrees. Fermentation requires the presence of skin and pips, as these components add more color and tannins to the wine. Once the alcoholic fermentation is completed, a second fermentation starts out – malolactic fermentation -, where malolactic bacteria convert the malic acid contained in wine into lactic acid, thereby reducing wine acidity and making it softer and more complex.
When both fermentations are completed, the liquid – already wine – is separated from the skins and transferred to a new vat. After decanting and filtering to free it from impurities, the red varietal wine – a term incorrectly used, as varietal comes from variety, in other words from a single type of vine – is bottled at a young age for its development in the bottle.
In the case of the “Reserva” and “Gran Reserva” wines, these are matured and aged in 225-liter barrels made of French oak, for periods that may range from several months to up to two years. Once the maturation process is completed in the barrels, wines are bottled and left to rest for one to two years in cellars specially equipped with racks, at a constant temperature around the clock, thus achieving the much sought-after “bouquet”.