Winemaker Notes
Fundo la Union comes from 150 year old bush-trained Pais vines grown on the coast in Itata. Light-bodied, with bright cranberry, raspberry and dusty roses, a grainy, mineral angularity, soft tannins and a palpable saltiness, its soulful and delicious.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2020 Fundo La Unión País comes from the coastal part of Coelemu in Itata, from old and low-yielding vines on granite soils, and it fermented and matured in concrete. It's serious, round, clean and balanced, with moderate ripeness and fine tannins that give it some grip. It has an austere nose, but there are hints of berries and herbs here.
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.
A cool, rather wet region of southern Chile, Bio Bio is experiencing an increase in the development of quality wine production.