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11 exciting red wines from Chile

04 December 2023 By Patrick Schmitt

Following our rundown of fine whites from Chile, then great Carmenères and Cabernets, now we bring you some more obscure releases, taking in 11 exciting reds, be they unusual blends, top-end Syrahs, and one varietal wine made from a near-forgotten grape.

EL PACTO – ROMANO

Producer: Santa Carolina
Region: Cauquenes
Vintage: 2021
Grape varieties: 100% Romano
ABV: 13%
Approx. retail price: £15
Score: 90

An exciting taste of a near-forgotten grape – Romano, of which there are only a few hectares in Chile, and Irancy in northern Burgundy. Flavourwise, this grape – called Cesar in France – delivers plenty of fleshy ripe raspberry and touch of blackcurrant, followed by fresh, redcurrant crunchiness and firm, grippy, dry tannins to make you salivate. Medium weight, it does have the structure that would befit a rather more concentrated red. But an interesting addition to the increasingly eclectic and therefore exciting Chilean wine scene.

PAI

Producer: LFE
Region: Itata Valley
Vintage: 2022
Grape varieties: 100% País
ABV: 12.5%
Approx. retail price: £9
Score: 88

Quite a pale wine, with a slight cloudiness, and notes of sweet strawberry, along with crisp apple, characters that are also found on the palate, where there’s also a touch of pink bubblegum and a lager-like character too. Interestingly, it’s a red that mixes ripe, almost jammy characters with a light body and a refreshing finish. In short a ‘natural’seeming wine from 80-year-old País that’s light enough to be served chilled.

MILLAPOA

Producer: Miguel Torres
Region: Bío-bío
Vintage: 2020
Grape varieties: País 100%
ABV: 12.5%
Approx. retail price: n/a
Score: 90

An interesting wine with some Pinot-esque characters, such as a fairly light colour and fresh red berry fruit. Allied to this are notes of ripe stem, dried herbs, fresh apple and firm, dry, rather grainy tannins. Made with 100year-old País, it’s a chance to try something from very old vines, and a near-forgotten grape variety that represents the origins of wine growing in Chile. It’s also a really good example of a País-based red. But it is quite rustic, with chewy, grippy tannins.

MONTGRAS HANDCRAFTED RARE GARNACHA

Producer: MontGras
Region: Colchagua Valley
Vintage: 2022
Grape varieties: 100% Grenache
ABV: 14%
Approx. retail price: £19
Score: 93

A pale ruby wine with a delicate nose of red berry and white pepper, then a palate with juicy, fully ripe fleshy strawberry fruit, allied to delicate peppery spicy notes and dry, quite fine tannin, and some fresh acidity. Persistent, delicious, generous and mouth-watering – afind. Indeed, this is a sign that Chile can craft really appealing, balanced reds from Grenache (with the sweet red fruit of Pinot, but not the stemminess).

MERLOT AMPLUS

Producer: Santa Ema
Region: Maipo Andes
Vintage: 2021
Grape varieties: 100% Merlot
ABV: 14%
Approx. retail price: £28
Score: 91

A rare chance to try varietal Merlot from Chile, especially from the source of fine ‘Bordeaux’ blends that is the Maipo Andes – otherwise known as Alto Maipo. The result is a wine bursting with slightly jammy red-fruit aromatics complemented by some toasty oak, and a palate with a firm, almost taut structure, which sees cooked cherry and baked red berry notes framed by grippy tannins. As for the finish, that features a lingering character of smoky, charred bread and ripe strawberry fruit. A wine that may soften with time, but now represents a balanced version of Merlot, neither green, nor raisined in style.

MONTGRAS HANDCRAFTED RARE CABERNET FRANC

Producer: MontGras
Region: Buin, Maipo Valley
Country: Chile
Vintage: 2022
Grape varieties: 100% Cabernet Franc
ABV: 12.5%
Approx. retail price: £19
Score: 94+

A wine that’s loaded with appealing ripe raspberry and black cherry aromatics with some blackberry too. Palate-wise, there’s juicy hedgerow fruit, with some creaminess too, and a touch of vanilla oak influence – the wine appears youthful, layered, and intense, with quite grippy ripe but dry tannins on the finish. Lingering are lovely pristine ripe red berry flavours with a note of white pepper. A wine that’s quite concentrated – hard to believe it’s only 12.5% ABV – and refreshing. Not only that, but another find from Montgras, a producer that seems to be doing great things with the unconventional – afantastic varietal Garnacha and now this, a pure Cabernet Franc from Buin in the Maipo.

MORANDÉ VITIS UNICA MOURVÈDRE

Producer: Morandé
Region: Maule Valley
Country: Chile
Vintage: 2020
Grape varieties: 94% Mourvèdre, 4% Syrah
ABV: 13.5%
Approx. retail price: £20
Score: 92

This exciting find shows that Chile can make first-rate Mouvèdre, even as a varietal wine, with this distinctive and rather delicious drop from Morandé called Vitis Unica. Using old-vine Mouvèdre from Maule, it yields a red with a medium-weight feel, plenty of freshness and dry, fine, grippy tannin. This is complemented by a core of sweet fruit, from cherry to plum, even raisins, as well as a spicy, peppery edge, and some toast and vanilla too, no doubt from barrel ageing. It’s not overdone, with a moderate ABV of 13.5%, and has persistence and vibrancy.

LA TRAMPA

Producer: Casas del Bosque
Region: Casablanca Valley
Vintage: 2020
Grape varieties: 72% Syrah, 20% Malbec, 8% Pinot Noir
ABV: 14.5%
Approx. retail price: £50
Score: 95

This lovely and intriguing wine was fascinating to taste blind, showing no obvious varietal character, and later it became clear why – it was a blend, and a most unusual one too, combining Syrah, Malbec, and Pinot Noir, all from Casablanca. The result, however, was successful, with layers of fruit, from blackcurrant to Morello cherry, plums to sweet strawberry, with a spicy, peppery edge too. Such characters were complemented by barrel-sourced flavours, from roasted coffee to dark chocolate, while the finish was dry, with plenty of mouthcoating tannins, then a gently warming sensation from the 14.5% ABV.

LFE 900 BLEND

Producer: LFE
Region: Colchagua Valley
Vintage: 2018
Grape varieties: 60% Syrah, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Carmenère, 7% Petit Syrah, 3% Grenache
ABV: 14.5%
Approx. retail price: £31
Score: 95

Offering a great chance to try some fine, high-altitude Chilean red with bottle age, this LFE wine is a 2018 vintage of a Syrah-dominated blend of grapes from the same 900m vineyard in Colchagua. Featuring some aged notes of chewed cherry and blackberry, there’s also some ripe strawberry, coffee and cedarwood, as well as a touch of orange zest on the nose. In the mouth, the mix is the same, but joined by characters of plums and cigar box, sweet balsamic and coffee bean, then a finish with grippy, dry but quite soft tannins and a tangerine-like note to bring freshness. In short, a lingering, layered aged red of sweetness and finesse. One of Chile’s best-value wines.

MORANDÉ BLACK SERIES SYRAH

Producer: Morandé
Region: Limarí Valley
Vintage: 2021
Grape varieties: 100% Syrah
ABV: 14.4%
Approx. retail price: £30
Score: 94+

A lovely wine of this year ’s tasting, this Syrah shows that Limarí is a fine place to grow this grape, even if the region is better known for its prowess with Pinot Noir, and in whites, Chardonnay. Packed with concentrated cherry and blackberry, then plums and black pepper married to notes of toast and vanilla, and framed by fine, grippy tannins, it’s a dense, finely-structured red with plenty of ripe fruit flavours, without being sweet or showy.

CLOS DU LICAN

Producer: Lapostolle,
Region: Apalta
Vintage: 2020
Grape varieties: 100% Syrah
ABV: 15%
Approx. retail price: £135
Score: 95

This big bottle certainly houses a big wine – one with an opaque appearance, purple glints, and a nose that immediately impresses for its power and perfume, mixing youthful ripe blackberry and cherry notes with apple and plum, pepper and toast. In the mouth, there’s cracked black pepper with cherry and blackberry fruit, then roasted coffee and burnt caramel, followed by toast with some sweet balsamic and apple-like characters. On the finish, there’s a lingering plummy freshness and firm grippy dry tannins, mixed with sweet oak notes, and some warming alcohol too – though not as high as you might expect with 15% ABV. An impressive, intense and layered wine – and one of the world’s great Syrahs.

For a full report on the Chilean wine scene, and to read about all the top-rated drops from the tasting, please see the September issue of the drinks business

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