Garage Wine Co. Truquilemu Vineyard Carignan Field-Blend
WHY WE LOVE IT
- This wine is a tribute to the resilience of the ploughmen farmers of the Maule Valley who have been stewards of the vines since colonial times.
- This wine was grown by grower/partner, the Orellana family in the Maule Valley. It was farmed by hand and horse with traditional methods of dry-farming 70+ year old vines with vines.
- Truquilemu Vineyard is found on the Coastal Range of mountains (much older and slower to cool than the Andes).
- Soils are granitic and sub-soils have cracked granite that allow roots to get deep into cracks.
Varietal Composition: Carignan with smidgens of Mataró and Pais in the field-blend
Elaboration: It was fermented naturally with native yeast (Truquilemu wine is added from previous vintage to a pie de cuba) in small tanks with open-tops. Caps were punched down by hand and pressing was strictly manual. The wine was aged in barrels (Sylvain, Berger, Nadalie – Alliers Noisette toast, and some Burgundy barrels) over two winters— barrels of three or more uses.
Tasting Notes: “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!” – Wine Advocate
PRESS
2015 – 94 Wine Advocate
2016 – 91 Vinous | 97 Wine Advocate
2017 – 96 Wine Advocate
2018 – 99 Wine Advocate | 93 James Suckling
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.