CLOS APALTA

2014 Casa Lapostolle

EN PRIMEUR

This was the first 100-point wine from here with such aromas of fresh herbs and dark berry and floral undertones. Hot stone character. Full body, very linear and ultra-fine tannins. The precision and perfection here is impressive, as it has always been. A blend of carmenere, cabernet sauvignon and merlot. Drink or hold. Rating: 100 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Apr 2018)

* This is a pre-shipment/primeur offer. All orders are accepted under the TERMS of this offer which differ from the terms of the rest of the site.

There is much diversity in the soil, and our Clos Apalta comes from colluvial granitic soils, lightly textured with layers of clay.

Vinification/Ageing
Our winemaking philosophy is to reflect the terroir from Apalta by crafting a wine based in Carmenère. A truly hand crafted wine, we nurture our vines and attend to every detail to preserve the potential of the grapes. We hand harvest the fruit in small cases of 14 kilos. The grapes are 100% hand de-stemmed in our Clos Apalta Winery so we maintain complete control of the quality. We fill our French oak vats by gravity. Then nature does its work, allowing native yeasts that slowly ferment the must into wine with temperature control less than 28° C. Macerations lasted for about 4-5 weeks and during all that period we did manual punch downs to extract enough compounds from skins to get the desired structure and concentration. We rack the young new wine straight into 100% new French oak barrels by gravity.
Malolactic happens in barrels, where the wine stays for 24 months, ageing patiently. The wine is bottled by gravity without any treatment or filtration.
Winemaker's notes (Jan 2017)

The 2014 Clos Apalta is composed of 48% Carmenère, 31% Cabernet Sauvignon and 21% Merlot and has lots of tannins and some astringency. It really suffers when compared with the 2015, which feels longer and has a different quality of tannins, but I prefer both to the 2013. This matured in 100% new French oak barrels for 26 months. 62,388 bottles were filled in June 2016. Drinking range: 2018 - 2024 Rating: 93 Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate, www.RobertParker.com (Feb 2023)

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.

Please make sure that you have read the terms of this offer which are different from those on the main website. If you are unclear as to what is involved in primeur purchases please do call us, but see the 'practical notes' below.

Ordering

Prices are per case as listed 'in bond' (excluding duty paid and VAT).

Pre-Orders are a firm commitment to buy wines on release, as long as the release price sits within the upper and lower price bands set by you on the pre-order form. Pre-orders will be fulfilled subject to availability but providing this firm commitment to buy effectively gives you priority and is a good idea for the most desirable wines.

Wines listed on the website can be ordered in the usual way via the website wishlist order form. You can also send orders directly to our private client team via email. Please note that, for the most sought after wines, priority will be given to those who ordered the same wines last year and to those that have pre-ordered.

You can register your interest via the online wishlist form, by emailing privateclients@leaandsandeman.co.uk, or by calling 020 7221 1982. All wishlist requests are subject to availability and final confirmation. Inevitably, some wines will have to be allocated but please do not let that deter you from asking. We will do our best to satisfy all requests.

Confirmation

All orders will be confirmed by email and are contractually binding unless written cancellation is received within seven days of the confirmation date.

Invoices are raised at in bond prices. Duty and VAT invoices will be raised on request when the wines land in the UK.

Payment is required on sight of invoice, by cash, cheque, debit card or bank transfer. We reserve the right to levy a dunning charge of 2% per month on invoices unpaid after 30 days.

Delivery

  • Shipment to our bond (at LCB Creek Road) and insurance are included in the in bond price.
  • Delivery is free to Lea and Sandeman / Elephant Storage accounts, both duty paid and in bond.
  • Other in bond deliveries are free subject to a minimum order from the offer of £1,000. Orders below this total will be charged at £16.50+ VAT when the wine invoices are issued. We will group deliveries and this is a charge for your entire purchase from this offer, not a per-case charge. Please inform us of in bond delivery addresses and account details at the time of ordering.
  • If the wines are required duty paid we will issue invoices at prevailing rate of duty and VAT when the wines arrive in the UK.
  • The wines will become available by the end of the year and should be shipped very early next year.