Casa Lapostolle
The Marnier Lapostolle family is French, and they are the owners of the liqueur Grand Marnier and owners of Chateau de Sancerre in Loire Valley founded Lapostolle in 1994 with the ambition to create world-class wines by combining the superb terroir of Chile with their French winemaking philosophy.
The Clos Apalta winery is the jewel in the crown. It is 170 kilometres south-west of Santiago in the Colchagua Valley. The vineyard is in a horseshoe shape, and high surrounding hills block the sun in both morning and evening, while the river Tinguiririca adds a further cooling effect on the other side, so that the grapes here ripen slowly and evenly. This wine is possibly the absolute pinnacle of Carmenère, on which is is largely based.
Clos Apalta, the flagship of the winery, had its first vintage 1997. It has been five times in the Wine Spectator Top 100, three times in the Top 3. It is the only South American wine which has been number one of the Wine Spectator Top 100. Since the creation of the Top 100 only two wines of the South hemisphere have been number one: Clos Apalta 2005 and Penfolds Grange 1995. L&S