Vina Echeverría, 'GCM Coast', Valle de Maule

A rounded and fruity wine with enticing aromas of forest fruits, cherry, raspberry and mulberry, laced with vanilla, mint and tobacco nuances.

Producer Note

Viña Echeverría is a family-run estate winery, owned and managed by the Echeverría family. Established in 1930, but with an agricultural heritage going back to the 1700s Viña Echeverría is as much today, as always, driven by a shared passion for winemaking and an uncompromising search for excellence. Viña Echeverría combines nearly a century of viticulture and winemaking experience with a modern state-of-the-art winery, to produce an extensive collection of quality wines. The 'No es Pituko' range represents a radical departure from the rest of the more traditional Echeverría wines, both in look and make-up, being vinified naturally, without any additions at any stage. Viña Echeverría has recently been awarded its Sustainable Winery status by Wines of Chile, as well as its ISO9000 certification.

Vintage

The 2019 season was exceptional. Characterised by a cool spring, followed by a warm summer. The quality was good to very good in most of the valleys, with the grapes being harvested in a very healthy condition as the warm, dry weather reduced disease pressure in the vineyard. The wines are rich in flavour, with a clean fruit profile, lovely fresh balance and delicate aromatics.

Vineyard

The fruit comes from a combination of vineyards located in the Valle de Maule and the Valle de Colchagua. In the Valle de Maule, the ancient soils are made up of granitic sandy loam, which is formed from granite from the Coastal Mountains. The soils are full of quartz and are mineral-rich, which enables the vines to express their full fruit potential. In the Valle de Colchagua, the alluvial soil offers excellent drainage properties, oxygenation and deep development of the vine’s roots, which creates exceptional conditions for the production of high quality wine grapes. Both the Valle de Maule and Valle de Colchagua benefit from Mediterranean climates, with cold and rainy winters that contrast with hot and dry summers. The lack of rainfall continues throughout the growth period, which forces the vines to send their roots deeper into the soil, in search of water and nutrients, resulting in complexity in the wine.

Winemaking

This wine was vinified naturally, without any additions at any stage. Each variety was vinified separately, with fermentation taking place with wild, native yeasts at temperatures from 15 to 25°C. An extended skin-contact maceration lasted for 10 days, to extract colour, aromas and flavours and the wine underwent malolactic conversion to soften the texture. The wine was aged for 18 months in French Burgundy barrels, of which 25% were new oak.

Tasting Note

Enticing aromas of forest fruits, cherry, raspberry and mulberry are laced with vanilla and tobacco nuances through to a rounded palate with a fine tannin structure and a persistent fruity finish.

Grape

Garnacha 50%, Mourvèdre 35%, Carignan 10%, Syrah 5%