Maquis Lien red wine blend from Colchagua Valley, Chile

Wine Ratings & Reviews

2006 Viña Maquis Lien Red Wine

90 points.
"Mellow, smoky aromas of cherry, singed plum, licorice and oak. Packs a solid punch, offering sweet dark fruit flavors and good spicy lift. Shows an exotic floral quality on the long, sappy, sharply focused finish."
- Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar, March/April 2010

89 points, Best Buy
- Wine & Spirits, February 2010

90 points
"The nose reveals aromas of ripe black fruit and cassis that are mirrored on the palate with violet notes and black pepper. The wine shows good body, round tannins and a long and persistent finish."
- International Wine Review, February 2010

91 points, Wines of the Year
"Chile has demonstrated its ability to produce a few amazing high-end wines. It is also a reliable source for many good bottlings at affordable prices. However, the key to Chile's future success will lie in making truly excellent wines at moderate price points, and this wine is an almost perfect embodiment of that aspiration. A blend of 42% Syrah, 30% Carmenère, 12% Cabernet Franc, 9% Petit Verdot and 7% Malbec, it is a phenomenal over-achiever showing the complexity, texture and overall class of a much more expensive wine. I've tasted it three times during the year and came away more impressed in each instance. The last time around, I kept the bottle open for three days, and the wine showed nothing but improvement over that span, which defies belief for a wine priced under $20. Wonderful now with food, it is likely to develop (i.e., not just last, but actually improve) for up to a decade. Ricardo Rivadeneira Hurtado and his French consultant, Xavier Choné are achieving something important in the Colchagua Valley, and you'd be wise to taste it while it is still such a bargain."
- Michael Franz, winereviewonline.com, January 1, 2010

91 points - Very Impressive
"I've been very impressed with every vintage of this wine that I've ever tasted, but this one may be the best release yet. A blend of 42% Syrah, 30% Carmenère, 12% Cabernet Franc, 9% Petit Verdot and 7% Malbec, it shows the complexity, texture and overall class of a much more expensive wine. Dark berry notes are accented with subtle wood tinges, and the tannins are exceptionally fine-grained, permitting immediate enjoyment but also allowing ageing that will provide even more aromatic complexity."
- Michael Franz, winereviewonline.com, September 29, 2009

"A Sit Down with Chile's Los Maquis"
Wine Spectator's Senior Editor James Molesworth sat down with Ricardo Rivadeneira to discuss the 2009 harvest and the Vina Maquis philosophy.
Click here to read entire article

"An ambitious yet well grounded protect, Maquis is a winery that has set out to defy the Colchagua stereotype of bullish, bruising reds....in the 1990s, the owning Hurtado family decided to launch an ambitious renovation project in both vineyard and winery, hiring top consultants (Xavier Choné among them) and producing the first Lien blend in 2003. Initially, what was interesting about Lien was also its downfall: freshness and florality can easily veer into skeletal austerity. But since then the wine has evolved, with the eclectic blend of Syrah, Carmenère, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec making for a far better integrated style of savory, spicy red the 2006 vintage."
- Harpers Wine & Spirit Trades Review

16.5+ (out of 20)
"Full-on, strong-armed black fruit and spice with a minty tone and chocolate ganache to finish. Drink 2010-14."
- Jancis Robinson

2005 Viña Maquis Lien Red Wine

"For $20, you can't go wrong with the 2005 Maquis Lien, a blend of Rhone reds heralded by an enthusiastic customer as "Chile in a bottle." Length of bottle: one foot. Length of Chile (longest country in the world): two thousand seven hundred miles."
- The New Yorker, January 1, 2010

90 points
"Seductively perfumed aromas of black raspberry and smoky Indian spices. Juicy, gently sweet red berry flavors pack good punch. Boasts excellent clarity and energy."
- Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar, March/April 2009

Grand Gold Medal, 96 points
One of only three red wines to receive the Grand Gold Medal
- Concours Mondial de Bruxelles 2009

Wine Spectator magazine columnist Matt Kramer calls the 2005 Maquis Lien "deft and impressively seamless...If you want to see how good wines from this newly prominent zone can be, then you can do no better than a red wine blend called Maquis Lien ... Very much worth seeking out."
- The Oregonian, Jan 18, 2009

92 points
Wine & Spirits magazine writer Patricio Tapia awards the 2005 Maquis Lien 92 points and calls it one of Chile's "top 20 red blends."
- Patricio Tapia's 2009 Chilean Wine Guide

87+ points
"richness, structure, and a hint of chocolate on the mid-palate. An excellent value."
- Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, October 2008

88 points
"is focused, with a slightly dusty edge to the cedar, shaved vanilla, coffee and plum sauce flavors ... The sinewy, minerally finish has nice grip."
- Wine Spectator, Oct. 15, 2008

89 points
"This blend of Syrah, Carmenère, Cab Franc and Petit Verdot comes in at a higher level than many. Dark chocolate, almond candy and black fruit work the nose, while the palate is sizable and full of plum and dark berry flavors. Both the oak and acidity are up there, so expect power and a few loose edges as it seeks its sweet spot."
- M.S., Wine Enthusiast, September 2008

16.5+ (out of 20)
"Liquorice, menthol, quite spirity, chocolate, high acid, coffee, plum. Drink 2009."
- Jancis Robinson

2004 Viña Maquis Lien Red Wine

90 points
"wonderfully earthy and gutsy, with very good concentration and impressive depth of flavor."
- Michael Franz, winereviewonline.com, April 2008

"silky and almost sumptuously flavorful...You'd have to look long and hard to find a richer, more dimensional, better-quality red wine for the money."
- Matt Kramer, September 9, 2007

87 points
"medium-bodied, nicely balanced, and straightforward with light tannin supporting the fruit."...
- Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, June 29, 2007

88 points
"Clean cut, modern style with a layer of mocha and toast leading the way for ripe plum and blackberry fruit. Fleshy, fruit-filled finish has a nice loamy finish."
- Wine Spectator

90 points
"a warm, generous wine ... a classic example of a Colchagua red."
- Wine & Spirits, October 2006

"Ripe and sweet; shows plum flavors, but with a core of acidity backing things up. Finishes tart and snappy."
- Wine Enthusiast

Click on the links below for more information about:
Maquis Lien's current vintage
Past vintages of Maquis Lien
Where to buy Maquis Lien
Maquis Lien red wine blend and the varietals used