Morandé Terroir Cinsault/País 2022
An exuberant and youthful wine, full of wild strawberry and raspberry fruit. Soft and light, but by no means frivolous, this has enough spicy complexity and earthy intrigue to elevate it beyond simple quaffing status.
Both varieties come from the La Constancia estate in the Maule Valley, on the eastern side of the coastal range. The Cinsault vines are bush-trained, whilst the País comes from sixty-year-old high head-trained vines, planted on deep clay soils. Both are dry farmed.
The grapes were hand-picked into 14kg cases with 25% left as whole bunches. A proportion underwent carbonic maceration and fermentation took place in 2000 litre concrete eggs and open-top wooden tanks, using natural yeasts. After a gentle pressing the wine was then passed to 60% concrete eggs and 40% 300-litre French oak barrels, where the wine underwent malolactic fermentation and 10 months' ageing.
| RRP | £14.25 |
| Vintage | 2022 |
| Alcoholic strength | 13.5% |
| Country | Chile |
| Region | Itata |
| Grapes | Cinsault 55%, Pais 45% |
| Body | C/D |
| Contains sulphites | Yes |
| Vegetarian | Yes |
| Vegan | Yes |
| Organic | No |
| Biodynamic | No |
| Closure | Cork |
Morandé was founded in 1996 by Pablo Morandé, and found immediate recognition both domestically and abroad. Morandé are true pioneers – they were the first family to develop the Casablanca D.O., recognising the fantastic potential of this cool-climate wine region. They also led the way in reviving old viticultural regions such as Maule and Itata, working with old dry-farmed bush vines and unconventional varieties such as Carignan, País and Cinsault. All of the wines are produced with grapes from Morandé’s own vineyards. Their winemaking philosophy is guided by seeking the right terroir for each grape variety, and with significant vineyard holdings they are well placed to achieve this.
