Domus Aurea and the Making of an Iconic Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon

When sommeliers and other wine professionals try to narrow down the list of truly great Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon producers, Casa Lapostolle, Errázuriz, and Domus Aurea will be among the first wine estates mentioned.

Many of Chile’s 1970s-era Maipo Valley winemakers scratched their heads when Domus Aurea founders Isabelle and Ricardo Peña did something that few had even considered: They planted Cabernet Sauvignon vines on 45 acres of difficult-to-farm, lower-yielding hillside sites.

Despite the increased effort required to farm the new vineyard, the vines benefitted from the cool breezes blowing down from the Andes, and the lower yields resulted in grapes with incredibly intense flavor. As the years passed, the Peñas (and their peers) realized that planting such an unconventional site was in fact a stroke of genius.

Jean Pascal Lacaze was hired in 2002 to make the wine, and the 90+ scores began to roll in, culminating in a 97-point score from Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate for the 2016 vintage of Domus Aurea.

Lacaze’s winemaking is nothing short of painstaking. He harvests not by block or row but vine by vine. He also believes in personalized oak aging cycles, selecting lots with the most character to be the first wines into French barrels.

The finished wine is classy and refined, bursting with red fruit and menthol aromas, without oak flavors that seem heavy-handed. Even more remarkable is its price. At just under $70/bottle, Domus Aurea is wildly more affordable than the average 97-point Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, for example.

Lacaze has famously said, “Never a day goes by that I do not feel fortunate to work with these vines.”

Not a day goes by that we do not feel fortunate to be able to drink these iconic Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon wines.