Winemaker Notes
Pangea 2012, is an ultra premium wine with an exceptional combination of concentration, flavours and aromas. Dark and intense in colour, Pangea offers complex, delicious aromas which reflect the fact that this is a Syrah from the Apalta valley. The nose reveals notes of black fruit harmoniously intermingled with spices such as black pepper and dark chocolate, together with notes of damp earth and minerals like graphite. A wine of ripe, firm tannins and great structure, Pangea is at its best when given time to breathe.
With a style of vinification that seeks balanced wines, slow fermentations, slightly lower temperatures, helps us to achieve the best expression of our fruit and minerality, obtaining soft and long tannins, with good concentration and elegance, along with balanced acidity, an a ideal wine for gastronomic. Then after a guard of 20 months in French oak barrels, It was then further bottle-aged for 12 months, getting a balanced and concentrated wine that keeps all the purity, elegance and vitality of our fruit.
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Spectator
Suave and polished, with a juicy mix of boysenberry, plum tart and dark cherry flavors, supported by medium-grained tannins. Rich smoke accents emerge midpalate, leading to a finish that lingers with spice and pepper hints. Drink now through 2020.
-
Wine & Spirits
The most ambitious syrah from Ventisquero, this is made by winemaker Felipe Tosso and Australian consultant John Duval from vines planted on the stony slopes of Apalta, in the heart Colchagua. An opulent syrah, this is generous in chocolate and espresso flavors and superripe fruit. Grand and firm, it needs some time in the cellar to reveal its hidden complexities.
-
James Suckling
A ripe red with dried meat, black currants and licorice. The palate is dense and concentrated, with lots of dark fruit and a surprisingly austere finish. Drink now.
-
Wine Enthusiast
Sophisticated from the get-go, this offers aromas of cola, mint, mixed spices, tea and herbs on top of blackberry and plum. Saturated, dense and layered on the palate, this tastes of mocha, coffee, chocolate and blackberry. A full finish bolstered by good acidity brings it home. Drink through 2019.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
I also had two vintages to taste of their top Syrah, one from a very warm year, the 2012 Pangea Apalta Vineyard Syrah, and the following year, which was one of the coolest in recent times. The élevage seems to have marked the wine in a stronger way, with spicy and smoky aromas and some dusty tannins. It spent 22 months in French oak barrels, half of them new. This is one for the long haul.
Marked by an unmistakable deep purple hue and savory aromatics, Syrah makes an intense, powerful and often age-worthy red. Native to the Northern Rhône, Syrah achieves its maximum potential in the steep village of Hermitage and plays an important component in the Red Rhône Blends of the south, adding color and structure to Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is the most widely planted grape of Australia and is important in California and Washington. Sommelier Secret—Such a synergy these three create together, the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre trio often takes on the shorthand term, “GSM.”
Well-regarded for intense and exceptionally high quality red wines, the Colchagua Valley is situated in the southern part of Chile’s Rapel Valley, with many of the best vineyards lying in the foothills of the Coastal Range.
Heavy French investment and cutting-edge technology in both the vineyard and the winery has been a boon to the local viticultural industry, which already laid claim to ancient vines and a textbook Mediterranean climate.
The warm, dry growing season in the Colchagua Valley favors robust reds made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenère, Malbec and Syrah—in fact, some of Chile’s very best are made here. A small amount of good white wine is produced from Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.