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 Casa Real 1989 is the maiden vintage of the flagship Cabernet Sauvignon from the Maipo producer and is produced from vineyards in the Alto Jahuel area of Alto Maipo, just south of Santiago. It is made during the exceptional years only and when the maturability is assessed at more than 20 years. It appears on the exhaustive and exhausting list of the two-Michelin-starred restaurant The Greenhouse in the posh Mayfair district in Central London.
This is perhaps a record price for a Chilean anywhere in the world but certainly in the UK. According to Marc Piquet, sommelier at The Greenhouse’s parent company MARC, which owns restaurants in London and the East Coast of the US, “We are very proud indeed for having this mythical vintage on our list especially from such a small release. It is the philosophy of The Greenhouse to source the best wines for our customers”. He adds, “The symbolism of what it represents on our wine list is that Chilean producers do have a complex and rich understanding of making great wines and those great wines can be aged and sit next to wines from the best terroirs in the world.”
The Decanter magazine named the 1989 vintage of Casa Real, a ‘Wine Legend’ a distinction bestowed upon a wine whose attributes stand out as the best of the best. This is the first time a Chilean wine has had this honour and shares the status with such luminaries as Château Petrus 1945, Château Margaux 1983, Château Lafite-Rothschild 1982, Krug 1928, Domaine de la Romanée Conti La Tâche 1978, Latour 1961 and Vega Sicilia Unico 1941.
To give a proper perspective of the wine list, this wine compares with Gaja Sori San Lorenzo (the most prized vineyard of the legendry Piemonte producer) 1989 listed at £900 (the Double Magnum is listed at £4500). It is priced at the same price as Ornellaia 1985 but more expensive than Ornellaia 1995 (£800), Sassicaia 1995 (£600), the Bordeaux second growth (sometimes known as Super Second) Château Pichon Longueville Baron 2000 at £650 and Château Léoville Barton 1986 at £450. Spend a little more and you could have the first Growth of Bordeaux Chateau Margaux 1998 for £950.
The 111-page list is perhaps one of the most exhaustive wine lists in any restaurant in the world and has Magnums, Double Magnums, Jeroboams to its credit although you will also find some half-bottles too. The price tag of £850 for the Chilean wine is dwarfed though by the icons from Burgundy, which are the most expensive wines on the list. One could buy a small apartment in Delhi for £ 21,500 (Rs.2.15 million), the tag for Romanée-Conti Grand Cru from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti!
Although a couple of Magnums list at just under £30,000, one can find wines priced as low as £25. Choice is available for affordable wines like Dolcetto costing under £40 too.
Casa Real 1989 is not listed in Wine-Searcher.com. However, the 2010 is listed at an average price of $45+. Frontera from Conch Y Toro, the biggest producer of Chile, is listed at $5 in wine-searcher where the equivalent top-ended Cabernet Sauvignon Don Melchor1989 is listed at $115+ and at a relatively affordable £200 (Rs.20,000) in the Greenhouse Restaurant.
You may want to download the fascinating Price List for reference. Click
Subhash Arora
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Tags: Casa Real 1989, The Greenhouse |