Garage Wine Co. Cabernet Franc Lot 80

Garage Wine Co. Cabernet Franc Lot #80

WHY WE LOVE IT

  • Mountain grown in the Maipo in Pirque aprox 7oo mts.
  • The vineyard was planted in the 1980´s.
  • In a retrospective tasting of various vintages lately 2015 came to be called the year of the grip in the Maule wines but here from Maipo it is more restrained. It was warmer than most years but healthy and dry.

Varietal Composition: 100% Cabernet Franc

Elaboration: The wine was naturally fermented with native yeasts, using open top fermenters. Caps were punched down by hand. It was aged in barrels over two winters— barrels third use. Yeasts native (we add wine from previous vintage to a pie de cuba). No temp control (besides opening closing windows) open tank. Pinch of sulfites after malolactic that finishes before winter begins.

Tasting Notes: “The 2016 Pirque Vineyard is a little closed but feels very solid. It has varietal and zone character, without excessive mintiness, faintly balsamic. It’s still very young, but it seems to have all the ingredients for a great development in bottle, with the textbook tannins. Derek Mossman described it quite accurately as an “elegant blue-fruited gent with muscles inside a well-cut jacket.” There you go! 3,012 bottles were filled from 11 barrels in November 2017 as Lot #80.” — Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate

PRESS

2015 – 932 Wine Advocate

2016 – 94 Wine Advocate

PRODUCER BACKGROUND

Derek Mossman, his wife Pilar Miranda, and Dr. Alvaro Peña are producing 1,500 cases total per year of old-vine Carignan, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon, with fruit sourced from small growers in Maule and Maipo.

Winemaking here veers towards the “natural” spectrum – all wines are fermented with native yeast, see no additions of any kind, very little new wood, and are low in sulfites. Punch downs are by hand, and pressing is done in a small traditional basket. You may notice slight variation in bottle thickness and shape if you were to open up cases, as Derek Mossman takes recycling to the next level and actually reuses old bottles, bottling in salvaged, used wine bottles in partnership with a recycling company located near the winery. Derek is also the founder of M.O.V.I. (Movimiento de Viñateros Independientes), Chile’s exciting, fast-growing association of independent vintners.

Print review Shelf Talker (2016 – 94 Wine Advocate)