This is a distinctive Chardonnay from the extreme wine region of the coastal Huasco Valley, on the border of the famous Atacama Desert in northern Chile. This is a semi-arid land of cacti, though it's known as the "garden of Atacama" for the old olive trees and vines for Pisco production. It's an appropriate place for Ventisquero to make their small-production, low intervention line of wines.
To make this bottling, the grapes are foot crushed and fermented with native yeast, and aged only in stainless steel. Stirring the sediment and not letting the wine settle too much allows them to bottle with the fine lees, offering a bit of built-in protection for the wine. But this also gives it a cloudy appearance. Letting the wine open in the glass, the struck flint aromas move into a stony character, with the fruit ranging from crisply ripe apple & nectarine to plump citrus. Mid-bodied, with a soft mid-palate, and the acidity firmly underscoring the juicy fruit, driving it into the lengthy finish. The toasty nut quality comes from the fine lees, as they block malolactic fermentation from occurring (no buttery or oaky Chardonnay here!).
TIM ATKIN MW 96 POINTS - "One of the great Chardonnays of South America - and, indeed, the southern hemisphere - this owes as much to the wines of Jura and Jerez as it does to those of Burgundy. Waxy, leesy and very lightly wooded, with notes of fresh bread and rock salt, some tannic grip from skin contact and layers of citrus peel and grapefruit."
To make this bottling, the grapes are foot crushed and fermented with native yeast, and aged only in stainless steel. Stirring the sediment and not letting the wine settle too much allows them to bottle with the fine lees, offering a bit of built-in protection for the wine. But this also gives it a cloudy appearance. Letting the wine open in the glass, the struck flint aromas move into a stony character, with the fruit ranging from crisply ripe apple & nectarine to plump citrus. Mid-bodied, with a soft mid-palate, and the acidity firmly underscoring the juicy fruit, driving it into the lengthy finish. The toasty nut quality comes from the fine lees, as they block malolactic fermentation from occurring (no buttery or oaky Chardonnay here!).
TIM ATKIN MW 96 POINTS - "One of the great Chardonnays of South America - and, indeed, the southern hemisphere - this owes as much to the wines of Jura and Jerez as it does to those of Burgundy. Waxy, leesy and very lightly wooded, with notes of fresh bread and rock salt, some tannic grip from skin contact and layers of citrus peel and grapefruit."
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