Winemaker Notes
A deep ruby red, this icon Pinot Noir has great aromatic intensity expressing notes of red fruits and berries with a touch of spices and tobacco. In mouth, it is smooth and elegant, with a refined concentration and acidity. This wine pairs beautifully with red meats, duck, tuna and aged cheeses
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
I tasted two vintages of their top Pinot Noir, including the wet and cold 2016 Ocio, produced with grapes from the oldest vines in Casablanca and San Antonio, planted approximately in 1989 on granite soils. The destemmed and uncrushed grapes fermented in an open vat after a cold soak that lasted for a week. It fermented with neutral yeasts for about six days. It matured in oak barrels, but 20% of the volume was put in 2,000-liter oak foudres for some 14 months. This is a showy and expressive Pinot that is still young, looking for good integration of the oak (they wash the new barrels before they put the wine in them). It's balanced, elegant and beautifully textured (satin comes to mind), showing the coastal side of Chile with the cold breeze and the sun that allows the tannins to ripen while keeping the freshness of the fruit. Rating: 95+
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The Cono Sur Ocio Pinot Noir has become a significant example of this grape variety in Chile. The 2016 vintage compares favorably with its international counterparts. TASTING NOTES: This wine is fresh, laser-focused and bright. Its aromas and flavors of zesty red fruit are unadorned and pretty. Pair it with a thin-crusted pizza with wild mushrooms and arugula. (Tasted: May 31, 2019, San Francisco, CA)
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.