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Garage Wine Co. 'Vigno' Carignan Field Blend, Maule Valley, Chile 2018
Garage Wine Co. 'Vigno' Carignan Field Blend, Maule Valley, Chile 2018
Awarded a whopping 99 points by The Wine Advocate!
Derek Mossmann Knapp of Garage Wine Co. has just received the ‘Old Vine Hero’ Award 2024 for his overall impact in the field of ‘old vine’ restoration, thanks to his efforts working with local communities to revive historic vineyards in Maule, Chile and the fruits of his labour can be tasted here in his Carignan ‘Vigno’ 2018, which offers a wonderfully silky, glossy and deeply-coloured interpretation of this variety (plus a splash of Païs and Monastrell). As wine merchants, we are, quite rightly, forbidden from using the word ‘healthy’ to describe a wine, but I think it’s fair to say that the fruit itself must have been in the rudest of health when picked, as the wine is so pure in flavour, gleaming with ripe cassis and black cherry, with cashmere tannins and enough complexity (graphite, wood, baking spices) to keep you intrigued and keen for another sip. Delicious with roast pork and crackling or Peking duck. 13% alc. Drink now-2032.
Press review:
The Wine Advocate: “The 2018 Vigno comes from a creek where there's terrific drainage and thus low yields and concentration. It's Carignan with smidgens of País and Monastrell in the field blend, the grapes grown by a Maule farmer by hand and horse with traditional methods of dry-farming, uncertified organic for 75+ years. Like all the rest, it fermented in open-top vats with indigenous yeasts and matured in used barrels over two winters. None of these wines are about the process, they are about the place and the year. Drink now-2030.” 99 points
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Derek Mossmann Knapp of Garage Wine Co. has just been awarded the ‘Old Vine Hero’ Special Award 2024 for his overall impact in the field of old vine restoration, thanks to his efforts working with local communities to revive old vines in Maule, Chile. Taste the fruit of his labours here…
The Wine Advocate: “After 20 harvests comes their first Cru, the 2018 Cru Truquilemu, which they describe as "Truqui with more stuffing." It comes from a small triangular section with a lower natural yield, with greater concentration and a darker, more brooding personality. It was fermented with more stems than the other Truquilemu and with a bit of Syrah, which adds weight, depth and texture. After fermenting pieces of the vineyard separately over many years, two distinct personalities emerged, and they have bottled them separately since 2018. Truquilemu has become more ethereal after the separation, and this is sturdier, with extra stuffing but more tension. The wine has less alcohol (12.8%, and 12.5% in 2019!!) higher acidity (7.43 grams measured in tartaric acid) and an incredible pH of 3.18, amazing parameters of freshness and restraint. This is not heavier, it just seems to have the same personality but with more layers. It was produced in a very simple and slow way, fermenting in open-top lagars with some full clusters and adding lignified stems to avoid carbonic maceration, with indigenous yeasts; malolactic took 11 months (!), and the aging in used and neutral barrel was extended over two winters. Drink now-2035.” 99 points
“Saint Jacques is by far the most important wine I make.”- Raúl Pérez.
An astonishing value Mencia from one of Spain’s most important (and hairy) winemakers, Raúl Pérez. It pours a bright, glossy, crimson colour and the appearance seems to translate into flavour, as the palate evokes shiny purple- and blue-skinned fruits (damsons, blueberries, blackcurrants) with succulent acids, black pepper and a hint of cherry blossom. There’s a seamless feel to the polished fruit and you can really taste the quality of the harvest, which is clearly the winemaker’s intention, as there is no oak flavour. It’s vibrant and beautifully supple with fine-grained tannins and a hint of cool graphite, which elevates the fruit. Raul makes some stunning ‘single vineyard’ expressions of Mencia, which have a bit more structure than this blend from old vineyards on different soils, but if you want to get beneath the skin of a grape, a winemaker and a region, then this is your backstage pass. 13% alc. Drink now-2030.
Organic farming
Press review:
The Wine Advocate: “The 2023 Ultreia Saint Jacques has a lifted nose. In the rainy 2023, they selected from the many plots in different lieux-dits of Valtuille, which this year included El Val and El Cepón in Villafranca, mostly from very old vines, with 50% of the grapes purchased from growers. It fermented mostly with full clusters and had a long maceration and matured in used barrels. It has contained ripeness and less than 13% alcohol. All the 2023 reds from the Ultreia range are very clean. Drink now-2030.” 93+ points
Jancis Robinson MW (previous vintage): “Thoroughly satisfying, complex, lifted perfume that already shows some integration even if quite a hit of acidity and a little tannin on the palate. It doesn't have the sweet majesty of Bierzo reds costing many times as much but is clearly an artisanal product from the heavily bearded Pérez. Refreshing and only medium body in terms of impact on the palate. Very Good Value.” 17 points
Customer comments:
“This is an amazing wine.” - Mr. P.D.
”Another case of the Raul Perez Saint Jacques Ultreia if available; it’s brilliant!” - Mr. A.R.
”A hit! Muy, muy bien. Should have had a whole case. Please may I have another 6? - Ms. V. J.
“By the way, the Raul Perez, Ultreia St Jacques was absolutely brilliant for the money.” - Mr M.B.
“Love that Ultreia. I will do another 12!” - Mr. P.N.
”Outstanding!!” - Mr. P. J.
“Very much enjoyed the first bottle last night. Lovely fruit and balance. Slipped down very - too! easily!” - Mr J.G.
”Drank a bottle of the Ultreia St Jacques on weekend. Lovely!” - Mr. D.A.
”This is a damn good wine.” - Mr. D.A.
“I should say I have really enjoyed the Ultreia St Jacques - quite delicious!” - Mr S.C.
”Delicious and superb value.” - Mr. A.T.
“Stunning and incredibly priced.” - The Wine Advocate, 95 points
The buzz about the Ribeira Sacra region is only going to get louder when people taste wines like this. The region seems to be spearheading a new direction in Spanish wine towards lighter, fresher, silkier reds with lower alcohol and an appetising dryness that makes them so versatile with food, showing more of an affinity with the textural fragility of Pinot Noir, for example, than the ‘oak soups’ that you often find in modern Rioja or the Ribera del Duero.
This is a fantastic introduction to Spain’s new bearing, which is really gathering pace in the ‘Atlantic’ appellations around Galicia, and I can't recommend it highly enough. The Lousas ‘Vinas de Aldea’ is Envinate's equivalent of a ‘village’ wine, in the Burgundian sense, sourced from 12 different parcels in various sub-regions of the Ribeira Sacra ranging from 20 to 60 years of age and located between 400 and 600 metres altitude on varied soils of slate and granite depending on the location.
The Vinas de Aldea 2023 is predominantly made from Mencia, with a few local varieties thrown in for good measure (Brancellao, Merenzao, Mouraton, Bastardo, Garnacha Tintorera), and the grapes were foot-trodden and fermented with whole-clusters (i.e. with the stems) in small open vats before transferring to 2,000 litre barrels for 11 months. It’s oh-so-fine and elegant and beautifully tailored to fit its shape. The aromas are pure and wild, suggestive of shiny cherry skins, fraises des bois and crushed purple flowers, while the flavours glide across the palate, evoking dark cherry, juicy red grapes, blood orange, a hint of white pepper (typical of Mencia) and a suggestion of cool minerals. It tastes best if you drink it slightly below room temperature. It’s an utterly beguiling Spanish red and you shouldn’t hesitate in snapping some up while stocks last. 13% alc. Drink now-2032.
Organically farmed
Vegan-friendly
Press review:
The Wine Advocate [bottled sample]: “The bottled 2023 Lousas Viñas de Aldea is perfumed, intoxicating and showy, with a floral note of dried rose petals that I also found in the Misturado from this same vintage. There's also a flinty smokiness that gives the wine a different twist. It's stunning and incredibly priced. Drink now-2032.” 95 points
The Wine Advocate [barrel sample]: “I tasted a very promising barrel sample of the 2023 Lousas Viñas de Aldea, cropped from a more Atlantic, cooler and rainier year (especially when compared with the super warm and dry 2022). Right now, it's super primary and they are slowly introducing larger oak foudres (3,000 litres) and lowering the impact of the oak in the wine. This has very good freshness, purity and elegance, reminiscent of past vintages like 2021 or 2016. It has terrific balance. Drink now-2032.” (94-96) points
Customer comment:
“We tried the Lousas Vinas de Aldea over the weekend. It was quite delicious. In fact it was so good we drank a bottle on Saturday and opened another on Sunday. So clearly I am going to need some more.” - Mr. Q.J.