Get your tastebuds ready for a unique and lively take on "old world" traditions! Chile's Garage Wine Co. makes wines of freshness, a sense of where they came from and resonate with food. The winery really did start in a garage, a popular place for small producers to challenge the idea that worthwhile wines can only be made by grand estates with grand budgets.
Started in 2003 by Derek Mossman Knapp, Pilar Miranda and Alvaro Pena, they were driven to revive old vineyards and display Chile's character in a more transparent fashion. These true terroir wines come from various small plots along Chile's coastal mountain range in the more southerly Maule region, and higher altitude sites in the central Maipo Valley. Today, the Garage Wine Co. owns about a third of these plots, but they have been happy working with the small farmers who own the rest, paying a fair price for their efforts in producing better grapes. While they work with very familiar varieties, as well as Pais (aka Mission) whose presence here goes back to the 1500s, they make their wines to display the region's personal style rather than try to replicate what people are used to elsewhere.
These are also wines on the 'natural' side of the spectrum, showing plenty of savory, earthy elements complementing the crisp fruit and floral characters: fermented with native yeast, the skins are manually punched down in small batches (sometimes first crushed by foot), then pressed in an old-fashioned basket press, age in older barrels to avoid covering the fruit, and add only small amounts of sulfites after fermentations are done. The farming traditions here are mostly intact: they and their sources practice organic or sustainable farming without irrigation, involving local farmers and workers who know the vineyards well, and who often use horses to plow. Even the source of the recycled bottles, the paint for labeling and wax sealing are all a result of finding local solutions for their needs.
The wines will really pop when served at a cool 60-62F, and all benefit from aeration, so decant and give them some time in the glass.
"The 2019 Cariñena Cru Truquilemu Vineyard is also 8% Syrah...The complex, attractive nose presents subtle notes of sour cherry, elderberry and other fruit, along with an earthy expression and hints of dried flowers over a bed of spices and wet stone. In the mouth, this is medium-bodied with an expansive flow, juicy freshness and mild, fine-grained tannins that lend grip and structure to the palate, keeping the fruity flavors going for an extended period of time. A balanced, energetic wine." - Joaquin Hidalgo, VINOUS MEDIA
WINE ADVOCATE 98 POINTS - "The 2019 Cru Truquilemu has even lower alcohol (12.5%) but a little less acidity and higher pH than the 2018. This Cariñena field blend comes from a section of the old Truquilemu vineyard that they have been vinifying for 20 years now and is cultivated with a combination of original methods of cultivating the old vines—i.e., farmed by hand and horse, accompanied by the lens, analysis and scientific ideas of Professor Alvaro Peña [Garage partner] and their in-house PhD in viticulture. This is the fruit of precise focus on small pieces of the vineyard, fermented separately in open-top 1,500- and 2,500-kilo lagar fermenters, using punch-downs and more full clusters and stems than in the regular Truquilemu. They use first-class barrels that are third-use or older and age the wines slowly over two winters, but the wines never have any notes from the wood—the barrels act as neutral containers that allow the wines to breath and develop. The 2018 feels a little more complete than this, which is still amazing. 4,229 bottles were filled in January 2021." - Luis Gutierrez
Started in 2003 by Derek Mossman Knapp, Pilar Miranda and Alvaro Pena, they were driven to revive old vineyards and display Chile's character in a more transparent fashion. These true terroir wines come from various small plots along Chile's coastal mountain range in the more southerly Maule region, and higher altitude sites in the central Maipo Valley. Today, the Garage Wine Co. owns about a third of these plots, but they have been happy working with the small farmers who own the rest, paying a fair price for their efforts in producing better grapes. While they work with very familiar varieties, as well as Pais (aka Mission) whose presence here goes back to the 1500s, they make their wines to display the region's personal style rather than try to replicate what people are used to elsewhere.
These are also wines on the 'natural' side of the spectrum, showing plenty of savory, earthy elements complementing the crisp fruit and floral characters: fermented with native yeast, the skins are manually punched down in small batches (sometimes first crushed by foot), then pressed in an old-fashioned basket press, age in older barrels to avoid covering the fruit, and add only small amounts of sulfites after fermentations are done. The farming traditions here are mostly intact: they and their sources practice organic or sustainable farming without irrigation, involving local farmers and workers who know the vineyards well, and who often use horses to plow. Even the source of the recycled bottles, the paint for labeling and wax sealing are all a result of finding local solutions for their needs.
The wines will really pop when served at a cool 60-62F, and all benefit from aeration, so decant and give them some time in the glass.
"The 2019 Cariñena Cru Truquilemu Vineyard is also 8% Syrah...The complex, attractive nose presents subtle notes of sour cherry, elderberry and other fruit, along with an earthy expression and hints of dried flowers over a bed of spices and wet stone. In the mouth, this is medium-bodied with an expansive flow, juicy freshness and mild, fine-grained tannins that lend grip and structure to the palate, keeping the fruity flavors going for an extended period of time. A balanced, energetic wine." - Joaquin Hidalgo, VINOUS MEDIA
WINE ADVOCATE 98 POINTS - "The 2019 Cru Truquilemu has even lower alcohol (12.5%) but a little less acidity and higher pH than the 2018. This Cariñena field blend comes from a section of the old Truquilemu vineyard that they have been vinifying for 20 years now and is cultivated with a combination of original methods of cultivating the old vines—i.e., farmed by hand and horse, accompanied by the lens, analysis and scientific ideas of Professor Alvaro Peña [Garage partner] and their in-house PhD in viticulture. This is the fruit of precise focus on small pieces of the vineyard, fermented separately in open-top 1,500- and 2,500-kilo lagar fermenters, using punch-downs and more full clusters and stems than in the regular Truquilemu. They use first-class barrels that are third-use or older and age the wines slowly over two winters, but the wines never have any notes from the wood—the barrels act as neutral containers that allow the wines to breath and develop. The 2018 feels a little more complete than this, which is still amazing. 4,229 bottles were filled in January 2021." - Luis Gutierrez
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