Vik La Piu Belle 2022 is a rich, opulent Chilean red led by Carménère, offering ripe blackberries, roasted red pepper, spice and creamy oak notes. Plush and hedonistic yet fresh and vibrant, it delivers silky tannins, depth and a long, polished finish.

James Suckling | JS 96
Published: Apr 2, 2025

A rich and opulent wine with a lovely tannic texture. Creamy and quite hedonistic in style. Blackberries, roasted red peppers and hints of mocha and cream on the nose. It has good generosity of fruit and flavors, but remains juicy and vibrant, full of dusty tannins. Really long. 81% carmenere, 5% syrah and the rest cabernet sauvignon. 22 months in oak, of which 45% was new oak. Drink or hold.

The Wine Advocate | RP 91
Published: Mar 13, 2025
Drink: 2024-2028

Aromas of cream, spices, resinous herbs and toasty oak introduce the 2022 La Piu Belle, a blend of 81% Carménère, 14% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Syrah. Like much of the Vik range, the palate is soft, seamless and svelte, albeit a hair slower-moving and more grippy than other bottlings in the lineup. The finish is a touch more punchy and features bright, vibrant acidity within the context of a treatment-oriented wine.

Among the most grandiose projects in Chile, Vik spans a 4,300-hectare estate in Cachapoal and features over 300 hectares of vineyards, primarily focusing on Bordeaux varieties. It also includes an ultra-luxury hotel and restaurant, an opulent setting that is faithfully reflected in the wines. There is a strong emphasis on their barrel program, centering around an in-house cooperage that incorporates oak from pre-dried French staves, assembled on-site while also renewing used barrels. This program—affectionately named "Barroir," a nod to "terroir"—ultimately leads the wines to be very treatment-driven, as most of the range showcases creamy, toasted, oak-derived aromas and flavors.

Two other playfully named programs are employed, albeit with lighter fingerprints: "Fleurroir," which isolates yeast strains for inoculating fermentations using local flowers, and "Amphior," their proprietary amphorae program. These amphorae are responsible for what I consider the most intriguing wine by far: the newly released Stonevik, aged underground exclusively in these vessels. While Vik undeniably showcases clear attention to detail and passion for craft throughout, there is an engineered feel to most of the lineup, with the notable exception of the Stonevik; I would love to see further experimentation and attention in this area to reveal a more unadorned view of this project's true potential.

Vikwine.com

THE ART OF WINEMAKING

La Piu Belle is the goddess of the Millahue Valley - the Place of Gold. Complex, beautiful, voluptuous, intense, elegant and fresh. She is the mystical world's personification of our incredible terroir, which was brilliantly captured in a bottle. A timeless reflection of the beauty of nature.

ORIGIN : Millahue, Cachapoal valley.

SOIL: Deep, porous decomposed granitic soil with good drainage.

CLIMATE: Temperate Mediterranean climate with a marine influence that moderates maximum temperatures.

AGING: 24 months in French oak barrels and 15% were in BARROIR (toasted oak barrels from the same property

TASTING NOTES

This story presents us with a Carmenère in movement, showcasing the finesse it achieves in the special terroir of Millahue: elegant and dynamic, with rounded tannins that fill the mid-palate, giving a sensation of volume while highlighting the layers of flavors. 

The Cabernet Sauvignon is accompanied by a firm structure, like a pentagram full of notes that carry us to an infinite experience in the finish. Meanwhile, the Cabernet Franc elegantly brings tension and minerality, lending the mouth refined graphite notes. 

The nose reveals upfront notes of black fruit, such as blackberries and prunes, spices spearheaded by black pepper, and the characteristic forest floor aroma of Carmenère, harmonizing with the mineral notes.

Food pairing: Beef fillet stuffed with goat cheese, pumpkin, and sage gnocchi.

Serving temperature: 16°C.