Garage Wine Co. Pais 215 BC Ferment 2018
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Parker
Robert
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This example is sourced from old vines in three organically farmed Maule Valley vineyard sites. Winemaking is as natural as it gets in order to showcase this historical grape in the most pure context possible.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 País 215 BC Ferment is part of the Single Ferment Series, meaning the wine is produced with fruit from different vineyards (three vineyards and different zones in this case, mostly in Cauquenes, crossing into Empedrado) fermented together, and the 215 BC means the País grape was there 215 years before Cabernet. They decided to develop this series to be able to sell an affordable wine but still pay the growers a decent price for their grapes. The second and third batches of fruit were added when they were ready and put on top of the tank already fermenting. One continuous ferment. This feels darker and more serious than the majority of País out there, aged in old barrels for one winter. It has more complexity and depth, ripe flavors and round tannins, without any rusticity, but with the character of the grape and the granite soils. It has moderate alcohol and great balance, with a lively palate and great purity. 2018 was described by winemaker Derek Mossman with just one word: glorious. They produced 16 barrels of this that filled 4,624 bottles in January 2019. The quality here sets the bar for the 2018s to come.
Other Vintages
2020-
Parker
Robert
Planted as the first vitis vinifera wine grape in the U.S., País has a long significant history in the Americas. Originally from Spain, where the grape is known as Listán Prieto, it was brought by Spanish colonists to Mexico in 1540 and, later, during the late 1700s, to Mission San Diego in California where it would take on another new name, Mission. Propagated for its use as a sacramental wine, Mission remained important in California until the spread of phylloxera in the 1880s. Somm Secret—In Chile it is called Pais. In Argentina, Pais is known as Criolla Chica.
Maule is the Central Valley’s most southern and coolest zone, reaching a southern latitude of 35°S, yet it is still warmer and drier than Bío-Bío to its south. The Maule Valley enjoys success with a unique set of grapes.
It lays claim to the local variety, Pais (synonymous with Tinta Pais, which is actually Tempranillo), which has dominated much of the region’s area under vine until the recent past. Now many growers, not confined by the tradition and regulations of the Old World, also successfully grow Cabernet Sauvignon.
While Maule’s total area under vine remains relatively static, its old Carignan vineyards are undergoing a great revival. The VIGNO (Vignadores del Carignan Vintners) group, an association in charge of promoting this long-forgotten variety, is getting fantastic results from the old vines in its dry-farmed coastal zones.
The Maule includes the subregions of Talca, San Clemente, San Javier, Parral, Linares and Cauquenes.