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Dear Wine Lover,
Most great wines hope to crack Wine Spectator's Top 100 once in a generation. Clos Apalta has done it five times, and three of those landed in the top three spots. In the last thirty years, no other estate on earth — not Pétrus, not Sassicaia, not Screaming Eagle, not Lafite — has appeared three times in the top three of the WS Top 100. Only one wine has done it: this one.
Founded in 1994 by Alexandra Marnier Lapostolle (yes, of Grand Marnier) and her husband Cyril de Bournet, the Colchagua Valley estate is built around an enclosed natural amphitheater — surrounded on three sides by Andean foothills and on the fourth by the Tinguiriríca River. Pre-phylloxera vines from the 1910s, sourced through French massal selection over a century ago. Fully biodynamic. The wine is shaped by Michel Rolland, the most decorated consulting winemaker alive — the architect of more 100-point scores in Bordeaux, Napa, and the Southern Hemisphere than perhaps any human being in history.
For Father's Day, this is the gift that doesn't need a hard sell — you walk in with the bottle, he reads the label, and the room goes quiet. The greatest red wine ever produced in the entire Southern Hemisphere, in his hands. 16 bottles remain in our cellar.
✦ ✦ ✦
A Thirty-Year Track Record
Clos Apalta on the WS Top 100.
Five confirmed placements. Three of them in the top three. One Wine of the Year.
| WS List Year |
Vintage |
Rank |
| 2003 |
2000 |
#3 |
| 2004 |
2001 |
#2 |
| 2008 |
2005 |
#1Wine of the Year
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| 2014 |
2010 |
#42 |
| 2025 |
2021 |
#6Today's Bottle
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Two Records No Other Wine Holds
★ The only wine in the world to land three times in the top three spots of the Wine Spectator Top 100 over the past 30 years — the 2000, 2001, and 2005 vintages.
★ The only South American wine ever to be named Wine Spectator's Wine of the Year — the 2005, ranked #1 on the 2008 list.
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✦ ✦ ✦
The Bottle
100 pts James Suckling. 98 Vinous. 96 Wine Spectator (#6 of 2025). 95 Wine Advocate.
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2021 Clos Apalta · JS 100 / VM 98 / WS 96 / WA 95
⚠ Last 16 Bottles
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Colchagua Valley · Pre-Phylloxera Vines (1910s) · Biodynamic · Michel Rolland
2021 Clos Apalta
75% Carménère · 18% Cabernet Sauvignon · 7% Merlot · aged 24 months in French oak (2/3 new) · best after 2028, drinking through 2040+
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100Suckling
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98Vinous
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96Spectator #6
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95Advocate
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100 Points · James Suckling · "Endless Balance and Length"
"Extremely aromatic. Fresh flowers, sage, lavender, pine needles. Perfectly integrated tannins that go on for minutes. Endless balance and length. It's so balanced that you could drink it now but it will age for decades."
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98 Points · Vinous
"Graphite, herbs, dried plums, blackberry marmalade. Plush and ample, lifted by a rare nimbleness. One of those rare Chilean wines that reliably showcases the vintage while maintaining a consistent house style."
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96 Points · Wine Spectator · #6 Top 100 of 2025
"Aromatically complex. Spiced plum, petrichor, pine, dried violet, cocoa. Round and richly textured with Szechuan peppercorn accents. Everything comes together harmoniously. A stunner. Drink now through 2040."
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Retail Elsewhere
$180+
Total Wine
$159.99
Our Price · Lowest in the Country
$124.97
16 bottles · in stock now
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Cheers,
James Tran
Artisan.wine
P.S. The 2005 vintage (Wine of the Year in 2008) now trades north of $650 a bottle on the secondary market. The 2000 and 2001 are gone — impossible to find at retail. The 2021, at $124.97, is the version of this wine you can still buy at release pricing today. Sixteen bottles left. Text 650-880-3553 if you'd like a gift bag or rush delivery for Sunday.
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