Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2012 20 Barrels Limited Edition Pinot Noir is sourced mostly from the Fundo El Triangulo in the centre of Casablanca, where the first Pinot Noir in Casablanca was planted back in 1989. The grapes come from different vineyards where they identify the best plots with lower yields. The wine was fermented in open stainless steel vats and raised for 12 months in new French oak barrels. It feels deeper and has a riper personality, but not overripe, with a Burgundian feeling. It smells of red and black cherries and a whiff of spices and lactic aromas, very focused and elegant. The palate is medium-bodied, very supple and tasty, with freshness and minerality, akin to a Burgundy 1er Cru. Bravo! A great Pinot Noir at a fantastic price for the quality.
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.”
A region that has become synonymous with some of the best whites of Chile, the Casablanca Valley is full of dozens of bodegas who either grow fruit here or come from outside to source from local growers for their own white wine programs. The valley runs from east to west, which means that its westernmost vineyards receive the most cooling influence from the reliable afternoon sea breezes. The soils also tend to be heavier in clay in the west, whereas the eastern end of the valley is warmer and its soils are predominantly granitic. Sauvignon blanc thrives here, Chardonnay does well and Pinot noir is not uncommon.