Garage Wine Co. Truquilemu Vineyard Lot 77 Carignan 2016
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Robert
Parker
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Winemaker Notes
This wine is characterful, floral, subtle and really elegant while keeping the varietal profile. The tannins are very fine grained, and the palate feels really balanced.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The really grand and elegant 2016 Truquilemu Vineyard starts off quite shy and takes some time to open up in the glass. They used a little more stems for the fermentation (stems are added rather than using the full clusters), as they don't like carbonic maceration. This is characterful, floral, subtle and really elegant while keeping the varietal profile. The tannins are very fine grained, and the palate feels really balanced. This has to be the stuff wine dreams are made of!
Responsible for some of the most stunning old vine red wine on the planet, Carignan has an amazing capacity to survive dry, arid climates and still produce lovely, mouthwatering wine. In Spain it goes by the name of Mazuelo or Cariñena and while it may have originated there in the province of Aragón, its popularity lies elsewhere, particularly in Languedoc-Roussillon. Somm Secret—Historically Carignan did not enjoy the respect that it does today. In the mid 20th century, Carignan covered nearly 140,000 ha in Algeria, where it was made into low quality bulk and blending wine to supply mass-market demand.
Maule is the Central Valley’s most southern and coolest zone, reaching a southern latitude of 35°S, yet it is still warmer and drier than Bío-Bío to its south. The Maule Valley enjoys success with a unique set of grapes.
It lays claim to the local variety, Pais (synonymous with Tinta Pais, which is actually Tempranillo), which has dominated much of the region’s area under vine until the recent past. Now many growers, not confined by the tradition and regulations of the Old World, also successfully grow Cabernet Sauvignon.
While Maule’s total area under vine remains relatively static, its old Carignan vineyards are undergoing a great revival. The VIGNO (Vignadores del Carignan Vintners) group, an association in charge of promoting this long-forgotten variety, is getting fantastic results from the old vines in its dry-farmed coastal zones.
The Maule includes the subregions of Talca, San Clemente, San Javier, Parral, Linares and Cauquenes.