Winemaker Notes
A striking ruby red with violet hue. The aromatic nose features notes of strawberries, cherry liqueur, wild flowers, and violets. The palate is juicy, with very balanced acidity and the sweetness of round, ripe tannins. The generous and elegant mid-palate accentuates all of the sensations perceived on the nose coupled with a remarkable finish.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Ripe strawberries and spiced raspberries to the nose. The medium-bodied palate has some sweet, crushed red berry fruit and a round, smooth mouthfeel. Soft, fresh tannins. Drink now.
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.”
The Aconcagua River runs east from the charming costal town of Valparaiso and bisects the land creating the valley after which it was named. While alluvial soils predominate the Aconcagua Valey along its river throughout, its east-west flow creates drastically different conditions on each of its ends. Its western, seaside vineyards, with clay and stony soils upon gently rolling hills, produce cool-climate varieties such as Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Its inner region is one of Chile’s hottest and produces some of its best red wines. Panquehue in the inner Aconcagua is the site of Chile’s first Syrah vines, planted in 1993.