Garage Wine Co. Cinsault The Soothsayer’s Ferment
WHY WE LOVE IT
- One of the primary grapes in France’s Languedoc region, Cinsault is valued for its ability to make stylish, early release wines with low acid and supple tannins.
- Garage Wine Co has experimented with Cinsault for a number of years, and this first “official” release comes from a handful of vineyard sites in and around Portezeulo and Guarilihue in Itata.
- Single Ferment Series wines include fruit from more than one parcel or vineyard site and are (co-fermented) ¨in one singular ferment ¨ Sometimes all the fruit does not enter the tank at same time and we simply stack on top of the fermenting tank when the next fruit is ripe — one single ferment one single wine. (two vineyard sites in Portezuelo and Guarilihue)
- Garage Wine Co. gives each Single Ferment a name. (Example: as the first Cinsault was the product of their incapacity to resist just one more unloved vineyard and, moreover, Pilar’s premonition that they would not be able to fit this fruit into a tank that forced them to co-ferment, they called it the Soothsayer’s Ferment.)
Varietal Composition: 100% Cinsault
Elaboration: Ancestral farming by hand and horse. Naturally fermented with native yeasts. Open top fermenters. Caps were punched down by hand. Pressing manual. No temperature control with open tanks. Pinch of sulfites after Malolactic that normally finishes a full 7 months after harvest. The wine was barreled in neutral oak over one winters and then bottled in recycled glass. Unfined and unfiltered.
Tasting Notes: Bright and vibrant on the palate, with rose petal aromas resonating through red and blue fruits, a variety of baking spices and a hint of turned earth and leather.
PRESS
2015 – 90 Wine Advocate | 90 Vinous
2017 – 92 Wine Advocate
2018 – 92+ 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.