Matetic EQ Syrah 2008
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Winemaker Notes
A dark violet color, almost black, exhibiting the characteristic aromas of Syrah with notes of spices, including pepper, and fruits like black cherry and blackberry, all mixed in a surprising complexity. It is concentrated on the palate; the tannins are firm but rounded. It is a balanced wine, fresh and with a long persistent finish.
This wine a great accompaniment to game, lamb and mature cheeses.
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
Check out the depth of flavor in this syrah grown in El Rosario, ten miles from the sea. The wine’s blackberry and black cherry flavors mesh with herbal details and black pepper notes. Give it several hours in a decanter, and you’ll find something wilder in the flavor, closer to raw meat, powering its firm fruit through the finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
Evidence is showing that Matetic is rising to the top of Chile's Syrah mountain. This is a floral, heady, deep wine with bold black fruit aromas. Boldness is key throughout, and the palate delivers pure wild berry, blackberry and cassis flavors. Smooth yet powerful; a voluminous wine with class and character. Drink now through 2014.
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Wine Spectator
Dense and well-layered, with plum skin, blackberry preserve and anise flavors, followed by briar, spice and graphite notes. The long, grippy finish has a juicy underpinning.
The story of the Matetic Winery begins in 1999 when the Matetic family decided to diversify their business ventures and enter the world of wine, confident in the virtues of the climate and soils in the Rosario Valley. With a firm conviction in the vital importance of maintaining a strong professional team to guide every step of the project, the family incorporated Alan York (Biodinamic Consultant), Ken Bernards (Consulting Winemaker), and Ann Kraemer (Viticultural Consultant) into the project in 2000 to ensure that Matetic wines achieve the highest quality. The EQ stands for Equilibrium... balance.
Marked by an unmistakable deep purple hue and savory aromatics, Syrah makes an intense, powerful and often age-worthy red. Native to the Northern Rhône, Syrah achieves its maximum potential in the steep village of Hermitage and plays an important component in the Red Rhône Blends of the south, adding color and structure to Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is the most widely planted grape of Australia and is important in California and Washington. Sommelier Secret—Such a synergy these three create together, the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre trio often takes on the shorthand term, “GSM.”
Dramatic geographic and climatic changes from west to east make Chile an exciting frontier for wines of all styles. Chile’s entire western border is Pacific coastline, its center is composed of warm valleys and on its eastern border, are the soaring Andes Mountains.
Chile’s central valleys, sheltered by the costal ranges, and in some parts climbing the eastern slopes of the Andes, remain relatively warm and dry. The conditions are ideal for producing concentrated, full-bodied, aromatic reds rich in black and red fruits. The eponymous Aconcagua Valley—hot and dry—is home to intense red wines made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Merlot.
The Maipo, Rapel, Curicó and Maule Valleys specialize in Cabernet and Bordeaux Blends as well as Carmenère, Chile’s unofficial signature grape.
Chilly breezes from the Antarctic Humboldt Current allow the coastal regions of Casablanca Valley and San Antonio Valley to focus on the cool climate loving varieties, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.
Chile’s Coquimbo region in the far north, containing the Elqui and Limari Valleys, historically focused solely on Pisco production. But here the minimal rainfall, intense sunlight and chilly ocean breezes allow success with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The up-and-coming southern regions of Bio Bio and Itata in the south make excellent Riesling, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
Spanish settlers, Juan Jufre and Diego Garcia de Cáceres, most likely brought Vitis vinifera (Europe’s wine producing vine species) to the Central Valley of Chile sometime in the 1550s. One fun fact about Chile is that its natural geographical borders have allowed it to avoid phylloxera and as a result, vines are often planted on their own rootstock rather than grafted.