Viña San Pedro 1865 spotlight
The official VSPT Wine Group film marks 150 years of Viña San Pedro, the Curicó house behind the 1865 line.
The market on this bottle
Wine-Searcher tracks this 2020 Vina San Pedro 1865 Master Blend, Chile across the open market. Their published U.S. low is $19.88 and the average is $29.16. Our slash is $20.00.
2020 Vina San Pedro 1865 Master Blend, Chile
San Pedro's 1865 Master Blend, Cabernet structure with Syrah and Petit Verdot depth, a 2020 you can open at twenty dollars.
The 2020 is 34 percent Cabernet Sauvignon with Syrah, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, and Malbec from Chile's best valleys: cherry, redcurrant, nutmeg, and cocoa, now $20.
One bottle, several Chilean valleys, a winemaker's blend that drinks now
1865 is named for the year the Correa Albano brothers founded Viña San Pedro in Curicó. The Master Blend is the house using more than one valley on purpose: Cabernet for structure, Syrah for black fruit, Petit Verdot for grip, Cabernet Franc for perfume, a little Malbec for plumpness. James Suckling scored the 2020 at 93 and told you to drink it.
The house
Viña San Pedro was founded in 1865 in the Curicó Valley. 1865 is the line that wears that date and pulls fruit from Chile's recognized origins.
The wine
34% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Syrah, 21% Petit Verdot, 19% Cabernet Franc, 5% Malbec. Separate ferments, 18 to 20 months French oak, two months in steel after the blend.
The scores
James Suckling 93: berries, olives, spices, silky tannin, drink now.
The drinker
Decant 45 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F. Roasted duck or grilled skirt steak.
Red fruit, olive, and a silky close
The 1865 sheet leads with cherries, redcurrants, nutmeg, vanilla, and cocoa. Suckling found berries, olives, and spice on a succulent, medium-bodied palate with polished tannin.
A year of lower yields and an earlier harvest. The Master Blend was built for ripe tannin and a drink-now line rather than a long cellar speech.
Cherry, redcurrant, berry, olive, nutmeg, vanilla, cocoa.
Medium body, 14.5% ABV, silky tannin after 18 to 20 months French oak.
Long, spicy, and smooth. Decant 45 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F.
Each grape gets its own ferment, then one blend
On the 1865 2020 sheet, each variety fermented separately in older French oak after a five-day cold soak. Alcoholic fermentation ran 10 to 12 days with punch-downs and pump-overs, then 10 more days on skins. Malolactic was spontaneous.
Cabernet Sauvignon supplies structure and red fruit. Syrah adds volume and black fruit. Petit Verdot gives color and aging grip. Cabernet Franc brings perfume. Five percent Malbec rounds the middle.
The wines spent 18 to 20 months in French oak, then two months in stainless steel after the final blend. Serve near 62 F.
A date on the label that is also a founding year
1865 is not a fantasy number. It is the year the Correa Albano brothers planted a European idea in the Curicó Valley.
Viña San Pedro is one of Chile's oldest houses and a major exporter. The 1865 line was built to honor that founding with fruit from recognized valleys rather than a single-site speech.
The Master Blend is the winemaker's map of the country in one bottle: Andes and coast, Cabernet and Syrah, structure and perfume.
Drink it as a Chilean table red with real oak time behind it, not as a souvenir of a harvest tour.
Duck, steak, and a 45-minute decant
Silky tannin and olive-spice fruit want browned meat. Roasted duck breast and red-wine skirt steak are the live pairing.
Two plates. One roasted duck breast with pearl onion. One grilled skirt steak in red-wine marinade. Both can take the blend's spice and polish.
Decant 45 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F. The tannins are already smooth. Air is for nutmeg and cocoa.
Roasted Duck Breast with Pearl Onion and Cabernet
Seared duck, pearl onions, a Cabernet pan sauce that echoes the bottle.
Why it works: Duck fat and onion sweetness meet cherry fruit. The wine's silky tannin stays in the conversation.
View Recipe for roasted duck breast (opens in a new tab)
Grilled Skirt Steak with Red Wine Marinade
Char, marinade, and a cut that can take Cabernet structure.
Why it works: Grill char and red-wine marinade pull olive and spice forward without burying the cherry core.
View Recipe for grilled skirt steak (opens in a new tab)Put this Chilean blend in the cart
James Suckling 93. Five grapes, several valleys, 18 to 20 months oak. Twenty dollars.
Put it in the cart. This is the 1865 bottle for a table that wants Chilean depth without a cellar project.
