Cellar Profile
In the spring of 1887, a young Frenchman named Emile Bouchon left his small winegrowing town in Bordeaux, France and boarded a ship headed for Chile. In time, he purchased a wine cellar in Colchagua Valley and turned it into one of the most prominent vineyards of that age. Emile’s grandson, Julio, fell in love with the granitic soils in the interior dry area in Maule Valley, acquiring Mingre Estate in 1977. The family acquired two additional Maule vineyards with different soil compositions and perspectives. These minimal interventionists are part of “Vigno”, an association of winemakers created to highlight the exquisite qualities of Carignan from the Maule Valley. “Vigno” Carignan vines must be organic, dry-farmed and at least 60 years. The winery is also part of a recent movement to use the exciting, indigenous Pais grape — formerly the region’s workhorse variety — to make top-end quality wines. Pais Salvaje (their Natural versions of Pais) are made from untrained, wild vines that have mutated, spread around their home vineyards and twisted around trees and which are harvested on ladders from the treetops themselves. They work with concrete, French oak and clay amphorae in the cellar and spontaneous ferments are used in order to further highlight the unique terroir of their vineyards. Bouchon Family Wines garner accolades around the world.
Region
The Maule Valley was one of the first viticultural regions in all of South America, planted most commonly to Pais (known in California as Mission grapes). Part of the larger Central Valley region of Chile, Maule lies further south than the better-known Colchagua and Maipo regions. It is also cooler than Colchagua or Maipo. The flow of the Maule River that runs into the Pacific helps moderate daytime temperatures in the interior part of the region and cool evenings during the growing season help maintain freshness and acidity in the wines produced. The proximity to the Pacific Ocean means there is plenty of rain during the winter, but the growing season is extremely dry. You find primarily alluvial soils from old sea beds, along with red clay and granite. As the resurgence of Pais has brought more acclaim to the old vine vineyards of the region, so has cultivation of Carignan. This French grape gives plush, black fruit-scented wines with structure. “Vigno” (which stands for Vignadores de Carignan) is an association of old vine Carignan growers whose goal is to create an appellation of origin for wines made from old Carignan vines that have been dry-farmed and bush-trained in the Maule Secano area.
Vineyard
The Mingre Vineyard is planted on interior dry land on the west side of Chile’s Coastal Mountains, 45 km from the Pacific and 193 meters above sea level. Here,you’ll find some of the oldest soils in the country. The practice of dry farming reduces yields and gives smaller, but more distinctive grapes. The Pais vines are mostly bush vine trained, but some grow wild, coiling up tree trunks, growing in trees and bushes and needing ladders to harvest. These uncultivated vines have defied human intervention and produce wild, exotic wines.
Winemaking
Hand-harvested from old, dry-farmed vines. The grapes are hand-sorted, de-stemmed and pressed into concrete for maceration and cool fermentation for 2 weeks, using spontaneous ferments and indigenous yeasts. The wine ages in concrete before being bottled unfined and unfiltered.
Varieties
Pais — also known as Listan Prieto in the Canary Islands, Mission Grape in California and Criolla Chica in Argentina — was brought to Chile in 16th century by Spanish Missionaries, who stopped along the way to leave plantings in the Canary Islands. Much of Chile was replanted to Bordeaux varietals in the 18th and 19th centuries, however the poorer farmers of Bio-Bio, Itata and Maule Valley did not rip out their Pais vines and there are extremely old vine plantings throughout these regions. Historically, Pais was used to produce unremarkable bulk wines, however great work has been undertaken in recent years to create wines of character and elegance. These grapes are hardy, disease-resistant and grow easily in arid climates, without the need for irrigation. They are thin-skinned and extremely vigorous, capable of giving huge yields. They are also irregularly-sized, some growing quite large and without careful sorting can lead to watery, thin wines. They are fairly low acid, but rich with sugars, so harvesting as early as possible for phenolic ripeness is key to making quality wines.
Tasting Notes
The future of Pais is here! Brilliant red colour leads to an nose of sour cherry, strawberry, and fresh herbs. Zesty and fresh, there is also a fun, fruit forward juiciness. A pleasant, light-to-medium bodied red that can be chilled and enjoyed as one would a full-bodied white wine or Beaujolais. The red flavours persist on the palate; the tannins are soft, only lightly perceptible. This is an ideal partner to pulled pork or grilled salmon. Or serve on its own as an aperitif.