Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2021 País 215 BC Ferment, a village red from plots they know well, four of them fermented together. The explanation of the name is as follows: "A winery was making País in Portezuelo in 1548 (documented); Cabernet Sauvignon (a crossing of Cabernet Franc & Sauvignon Blanc) is documented from 1763 (near Bordeaux). The difference: 1763 – 1548 = 215 thus: 215 year BC 'Before Cabernet.'" Like the rest of the wines, it fermented wit indigenous yeast in open-top vats with some stems and matured in neutral barrels over one winter. It's perfumed, floral, clean and expressive, very elegant and balanced, with refined tannins. Brilliant.
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Vinous
The 2021 País 215 BC Ferment Single Ferment Series hails from El Secano Interior in Cauquenes, Maule Region. Garnet-hued in the glass, it reveals liqueur-like maraschino cherry and plum marmalade notes with a nuanced herbal layer. Dry on the palate, its fine-grained tannins and juicy flow create a rich and fairly compact mouthfeel.
Planted as the first vitis vinifera wine grape in the U.S., País has a long significant history in the Americas. Originally from Spain, where the grape is known as Listán Prieto, it was brought by Spanish colonists to Mexico in 1540 and, later, during the late 1700s, to Mission San Diego in California where it would take on another new name, Mission. Propagated for its use as a sacramental wine, Mission remained important in California until the spread of phylloxera in the 1880s. Somm Secret—In Chile it is called Pais. In Argentina, Pais is known as Criolla Chica.
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.