Winemaker Notes
Spice and mineral-accented aromas of red and blue fruit joined by slowly emerging violet and rhubarb notes. Sappy and concentrated but lithe, offering energetic black raspberry, spice cake and floral pastille flavors and a bracing, refreshingly bitter suggestion of blood orange that adds bite to the back half. Finishes smooth, sweet and long, with resonating floral and spice notes and supple tannins adding shape and gentle grip. Complex and expansive.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
There are nuances between the three wines produced with Cariñena from Truquilemu and between those from 2018 and 2019, and the 2019 Vigno is the most powerful of the three. But that's all relative, as the wine is still 13.5% alcohol and has remarkable freshness and balance. But the fruit is a bit darker and the tannins feel a little grainier. But it's still complex and expansive, with red and blue fruit, herbs and flowers and a medium-bodied palate with a long, lingering finish with resonances of acid berries. Vibrant and brilliant.
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James Suckling
Here is a fine expression of Vigno, with spicy blackberries, roasted chestnuts, blue and red flowers and some ink and cumin. Really fresh, bright and high-pitched acidity, but has good intensity and solid, structured tannins to balance it. Very ample, but really succulent and long.
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Vinous
The 2019 Carignan Vigno also contains a 12% dash of Monastrell from Empedrado, Maule, and was aged for 2 years in neutral barrels. Purple in the glass with a ripe, liqueur-like nose of sour cherry, mellow dried flowers and a touch of raspberry, it’s delicate in the mouth, offering grippy tannins supported by precise, juicy freshness and a compact character before the sour cherry returns at the end.
Responsible for some of the most stunning old vine red wine on the planet, Carignan has an amazing capacity to survive dry, arid climates and still produce lovely, mouthwatering wine. In Spain it goes by the name of Mazuelo or Cariñena and while it may have originated there in the province of Aragón, its popularity lies elsewhere, particularly in Languedoc-Roussillon. Somm Secret—Historically Carignan did not enjoy the respect that it does today. In the mid 20th century, Carignan covered nearly 140,000 ha in Algeria, where it was made into low quality bulk and blending wine to supply mass-market demand.
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.