Casa Real 2021: A dream year for a Chilean legend

A bottle of Casa Real 2021 — (Image credit: Credit Unknown)

Casa Real 2021, from Chilean winery Santa Rita, is set to be released via the prestigious La Place de Bordeaux marketplace from September 2024. Expectations are high: it looks to be a phenomenal year for Chile and for this legendary Cabernet Sauvignon from the Alto Jahuel area of Maipo.

Perfect conditions

With the ideal combination of cool nights and warm, sunny days, plus adequate rainfall and water supply, the 2021 vintage in Maipo’s Andean regions is being hailed as one of the greatest of the past decade — on a par with 2018, if not better. It is also being compared to the promising quality of this year’s 2024 vintage, which already looks to be one of the top vintages in living memory.

‘2024 was a perfect year for Cabernet Sauvignon,’ says Casa Real winemaker Sebastián Labbé, describing one of the longest and latest harvests of recent years, ‘although patience was very important!’ He compares the 2024 vintage to 2021, both being ‘very vibrant’ in profile.

Old Malbec vines are key to Casa Real’s quality.

Alto Jahuel, the home of Casa Real

This iconic wine is produced from the Carneros Viejos and Población blocks, planted half a century ago in Alto Jahuel. These 20ha of old vines, on gravel soils in the foothills of the Andes, are what Labbé calls ‘the soul of Casa Real.’

Labbé, who has been at the helm of Casa Real since 2017, ‘embodies the essence of Santa Rita,’ says chairman Baltazar Sánchez, ‘capturing the experience of the past, current learning and the virtues of a unique terroir in crafting our flagship wine.’

Hotel Casa Real on the Santa Rita Estate, originally the summerhouse of the winery’s founder.

A true great

Casa Real has built a reputation as one of Chile’s outstanding Cabernet Sauvignons, and its inaugural 1989 vintage was included in Decanter’s Wine Legends series in 2013. Santa Rita’s aim, explains Sánchez, was for this wine ‘to compete with the best in the world. This was the original concept behind the creation of Casa Real in 1989, and precisely this shared vision led us to achieve the historic milestone in 2021 of entering La Place de Bordeaux – the world’s most exclusive fine wine distribution network.’