Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A bright and fruity red with dark berry, watermelon and raspberry. Hints of lemons. Medium-to-full body, plenty of fruit and a crisp finish. Tangy acidity.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
From their Chilhué vineyard in Quillota, the 2017 Pinot Noir Aconcagua Costa fermented with indigenous yeasts and matured in French oak for 11 months (only 10% new). There are some earthy notes and dark cherry aromas on the nose of this attractive and fresh Pinot Noir, very consistent with what I found in the previous vintage, going one step beyond in purity and precision. Impressive! Rating: 91+
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
The Aconcagua River runs east from the charming costal town of Valparaiso and bisects the land creating the valley after which it was named. While alluvial soils predominate the Aconcagua Valey along its river throughout, its east-west flow creates drastically different conditions on each of its ends. Its western, seaside vineyards, with clay and stony soils upon gently rolling hills, produce cool-climate varieties such as Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Its inner region is one of Chile’s hottest and produces some of its best red wines. Panquehue in the inner Aconcagua is the site of Chile’s first Syrah vines, planted in 1993.