Almaviva is the result of a joint venture between two wine stalwarts – Viña Concha y Toro in Chile and Baron Philippe de Rothschild of Bordeaux, France. The wine takes its name from the "Count of Almaviva", a character in Pierre de Beaumarchais' Marriage of Figaro, which Mozart later turned into an opera.
The market for Chilean wines is built on its reputation
as a provider of good wines at competitive
prices. Both Viña Concha and Baron Philippe
were convinced that a world class wine could
be made in Chile, so they set out to search for vineyards that provided the necessary conditions for developing Cabernet Sauvignon. A vineyard called Puente Alto was found to be ideal, with its stony soils, wet, cool winters and hot summers. Forty hectares of this over 20-year-old vineyard were reserved for the production of grapes to make Almaviva.
Almaviva was subsequently launched at a gala dinner at Chateau Mouton Rothschild, where over 100 specialist journalists, tasters and winemakers declared the wine to be “first class”. Indeed, Almaviva may have given rise to the idea that an official classification of wines in Chile should be instituted. Today, Almaviva is considered a "Primer Orden" – the Spanish equivalent of the French "Premier Grand Cru Classé" or First Growth. Almaviva is the only non-Bordeaux wine to be handled by the famed French negotiants and marketed by them alongside grand châteaux wine. 
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