2020 Viña Maquis "Lien" Red Blend Valle de Colchagua

Professional Reviews

Staff Reviews

RR

Rachael Ryan

Rachael Ryan

K&L Buyer

Review Date: 07/2025

Bold and juicy at first approach, the 2020 Maquis “Lien” balances densely concentrated blackberry and bramble fruit with gorgeous tannic structure and lively acidity. 2020 was a warm, dry vintage in this part of the world, and while this certainly comes through in the density and ripeness of the fruit, the winemaking team at Maquis clearly handled the challenges of the vintage well. The wine completely avoids any sense of over ripeness and instead delivers a full-bodied experience with gravitas and depth. This wine will appeal to Bordeaux and Napa enthusiasts who prefer a bolder, richer style. It’s also a wine that crying out for a steak or burger! Really approachable now, this is a bottle to crack open next time you fire up the grill.

AH

Aaron Hughes

Aaron Hughes

Review Date: 07/2025

Before I even knew what the blend was, I knew that this was Carménère based. Well, I suspected it and hedged my best on it possibly being Cabernet Sauvignon, so with those two grapes accounting for 90% of the wine I feel fairly validated. What led me to that conclusion? Pyrazines. Those are that green bean, bell pepper, super herbal or even green peppercorn note that you can find in wines and this has it in abundance. For a while it evades a specific kind of reference before finally my nose allows it to go settle in the background so that the very pretty and very ripe black fruit can show on the nose. The palate is very nice and deeply fruited, blackberries and cherries alongside some barrel spice with a long and tasty finish. This is very tasty wine, made in a very structured and still elegant wine, with nice fine tannins and a decent acidity. I could see this aging well for a while, or just pulling this bottle for a steak night when I don't want to spend over $40.

SL

Simon Li

Simon Li

Review Date: 07/2025

2020 Maquis Lien doesn’t just show fruit—it shows form. It opens with dark berries and graphite, but quickly draws you into deeper layers: smoke, grilled herbs, tobacco leaf, even a peppery hint of Tabasco. The texture is rich but focused, with firm tannins and a mineral edge that makes each sip feel sculpted.

Notes

The Viña Maquis vineyard has owned by Hurtado family for over a century, but it wasn’t until about 20 years ago that they began producing their own wines. Situated in Chile’s Colchagua Valley, the winery specializes in unique, single-vineyard estate wines, with a commitment to creating balanced wines—avoiding both over-ripeness and the “green” flavors that can result from under-ripe grapes. The main Maquis vineyard is almost like an island, bordered by the Tinguiririca River on one side and the Chimbarongo Creek on the other. These waterways, which once carried alluvial sediments from the Andes, now serve as natural channels for cool coastal breezes, helping to temper the region’s warm climate. Maquis Lien is crafted from a blend of Carmenere and other Bordeaux varieties. To achieve a concentrated and fruit-forward style, the vines are pruned to yield no more than 12 grape clusters per plant. Only the ripest grapes are hand-harvested and sorted at the winery. The wine is then aged for 12 months in French oak barrels.