Baron Philippe de Rothschild Escudo Rojo 'Baronesa P' 2020

From the importer, Monsieur Toulon Selections:

Escudo Rojo is the Spanish translation of the German “Rote Schild” meaning Red Shield. In 1999, the encounter between Chilean soil and Bordeaux expertise gave rise to Escudo Rojo, a branded wine worthy of the Baron Philippe de Rothschild name, synonymous with the high standards of a great winemaking tradition. Vines were first introduced into Chile in the 16th century by the Spanish Conquistadors and their religious orders who needed wine to celebrate mass. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay vines were imported from France in the 19th century in order to make finer wines.

Located at Buin-Maipo, 45 kilometers south of Santiago in the famous Maipo Valley, the Baron Philippe de Rothschild Maipo Chile bodega stands in its own 63-hectare (156-acre) vineyard. The wines are made, matured, bottled and packaged at the estate under the supervision of a French winemaker and under the control of an in-house laboratory. For each of its wines, the winery selects the best parcels in Chile’s most highly reputed valleys in order to make wines which consistently combine refinement and character. Regular sources of supply and constant quality are also guaranteed by long-term contracts with partner winegrowers, especially further south, in the Rapel Valley. A rigorous parcel selection procedure has been created, with each parcel being tested for three years in order to ensure that the grapes are of sufficiently high quality to be used to make Escudo Rojo.

All the grapes are picked by hand in small 10-kilo baskets in order to preserve the fruit. The grapes are then sorted twice before entering the winery: first by hand on a sorting table, then after destemming. This is a proactive approach to quality that is rarely used in even the most prestigious vineyards, this practice demonstrates Escudo Rojo’s ambitious quality standards. Escudo Rojo strikes a harmonious balance between freshness, fruit, oak, fullness on the palate and ageing potential. In order to achieve this harmony, some of the wine is matured in oak barrels and the rest in stainless steel vats. After maturing, the wines are fined with egg-white and filtered. The proportion of each grape variety in the final blend for Escudo Rojo varies slightly from year to year in order to ensure an expressive wine of the highest quality.