Pipeño Coronel de Maule is made from 100 percent Pais.
To many American wine drinkers, South American wine mostly starts and stops with Argentinian malbec. It is understandable — the wines have a very reliable and consistent taste profile across producers and subregions.
In contrast, wines from Chile have suffered from something of an identity crisis, partly fueled by the fact that the majority of the country’s exports are mass produced bulk wine. However, there are winemakers doing interesting work in the country, and they are producing some wines that help craft a unique identity for the overlooked region. Because of this, these wines are more than interesting — they’re exciting. In a world of wine that is largely a product of deeply established tradition, it is fascinating to watch winemakers attempting to redefine their regional reputation in real time.
Since at least the turn of the 21st century, there has been an effort to popularize Chilean Carménère; Chile is one of the only places in the winemaking world that bottles it as a single varietal wine. This has been hindered by the fact that carménère tends to have a pronounced and frequently off-putting green pepper note on the palate, especially when not fully ripe. Casa Silva 2020 Los Lingues Carménère Terroir de Familia ($15) from the Colchagua Valley is a notable exception. It might not be from a boutique winery, but it is an undeniable value and a no-brainer for those looking for a full-bodied wine on burger night. And although this hand-harvested, single-vineyard bottle would certainly please a cabernet sauvignon or malbec drinker, its ripe plum, cinnamon and white pepper notes make it a distinctly different beast.
Louis-Antoine Luyt is a French winemaker who moved to Chile in 1998, and after working in restaurants, decided to produce wines that reflect his vision of the region’s character. He makes natural wine, utilizing organic and biodynamic techniques in the vineyard, with minimal intervention in the cellar. The Louis-Antoine Luyt 2021 Pipeño Coronel de Maule ($25/1 liter) is made from 100 percent Pais, a local grape usually relegated to mass production of cheap bulk wine. This is sourced from a single family-owned vineyard of 200- to 300-year-old organic vines. The age of the vines alone makes the wine worth exploring, but it’s also delicious and refreshing, with tart cherry notes on the palate, and a leathery streak that makes it more sophisticated than a simple thirst-quenching red or an ancient novelty. It would be outstanding with a selection of sheep’s milk cheeses and some olives.
Winemaker David Marcel started bottling his Viña Maitia 2020 Maule Valley Carignan Weon ($14) in 2016. It is a carefully made everyday wine that’s a versatile pair to a wide variety of food or (purely hypothetically) watching Euphoria. Farmed from 60-year-old organic vines, it boasts a relatively small production — only 1,000 cases — for such an affordable wine. Weon is complex and medium-bodied, with juicy blackberries, cinnamon and woodsy umami notes on the palate.
