Winemaker Notes
This wine is a true expression of Carignan, with intense red fruit and complex notes of earth, bay leaf and mint. Firm tannins and a juicy acidity give this wine a unique personality and superb aging potential. The Vigno's unique label illustration represents the "Cueca" dance, the national dance of Chile.
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
Alcance is a member of Vigno (Vignadores del Carignan), a group of growers working together to rescue and promote the heritage of old, dry-farmed carignan vines in Maule. This wine comes from Cauquenes, where it grows in granitic soils. It’s an extracted, voluptuous take on the grape, with smoky notes of oak crowding into the midst of all the ripe red fruit, exotic spice and scents of fresh flowers. It is rustic and delicious, needing roasted lamb to match its tremendous power, or time in your cellar to tame it.
Beyond the usual suspects, there are hundreds of red grape varieties grown throughout the world. Some are indigenous specialties capable of producing excellent single varietal wines, while others are better suited for use as blending grapes. Each has its own distinct viticultural characteristics, as well as aroma and flavor profiles, offering much to be discovered by the curious wine lover. In particular, Portugal and Italy are known for having a multitude of unique varieties but they can really be found in any region.
Maule is the Central Valley’s most southern and coolest zone, reaching a southern latitude of 35°S, yet it is still warmer and drier than Bío-Bío to its south. The Maule Valley enjoys success with a unique set of grapes.
It lays claim to the local variety, Pais (synonymous with Tinta Pais, which is actually Tempranillo), which has dominated much of the region’s area under vine until the recent past. Now many growers, not confined by the tradition and regulations of the Old World, also successfully grow Cabernet Sauvignon.
While Maule’s total area under vine remains relatively static, its old Carignan vineyards are undergoing a great revival. The VIGNO (Vignadores del Carignan Vintners) group, an association in charge of promoting this long-forgotten variety, is getting fantastic results from the old vines in its dry-farmed coastal zones.
The Maule includes the subregions of Talca, San Clemente, San Javier, Parral, Linares and Cauquenes.