Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Lovely carignan with slate, granite and blueberry aromas. Full body, round and juicy tannins and a polished and caressing finish. I love the texture and character to this red.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Unfortunately, I never got to taste the 2013 vintage, and what I tasted this time was already the 2014 Vigno Carignan from Gillmore. It is pure Carignan from granitic soils in Loncomilla, cropped from a warm year with less rain and harvested in search of keeping freshness and fruit. It fermented in open stainless steel vats and aged for 18 months in barriques, during which time it was racked three times. It's very consistent with the house style, perfumed and aromatic with a heady blend of Mediterranean herbs and flowers, less minty perhaps. 2014 was a warm vintage, and the ripeness is nicely contained here. The palate is medium to full-bodied with very good tannins and the salty tastiness of the granite.
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Wine Enthusiast
Gillmore is a trusted name for Maule Carignan. This offers blackberry, plum and coffee aromas on an intense nose. A tight palate with inward-pulling tannins holds plum, black currant and salty flavors that are racy and bold when totaled up. Dry tannins and an element of burnt toast are primary on the finish. Drink through 2021.
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.