Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 65

FOCUS: CHILE COSTA
VIOGNIER

124016

91 | Ventisquero

$22

2018 Atacama Valley Grey Glacier
Loncomilla Sauvignon Blanc ^ Felipe Tosso
makes this wine from an estate vineyard in
Loncomilla, along a terrace of the Huasco
River in the Atacama Desert of Chile's
north. The soils are a mix of clay, sand and
calcium carbonate brought downriver from
the Andes; the cold nights and morning fog
sustain some freshness in the grapes, which
Tosso preserves by hauling those grapes to
the winery in the coastal Maipo Valley in a
refrigerated truck. The fruit is a fascinating
range of flavors, from fleshy cherimoya to
dried green fig and prickly pear. With its
dry spice and pumpkin-seed savor, it's an
intriguing white to serve with grilled game
fish. § Austral Wine Merchants, Atlanta, GA
124041

90 | Maurizio Garibaldi

$18

2016 Casablanca Valley Mako Sauvignon
Blanc ^ Maurizio Garibaldi makes this wine
from a vineyard 12 miles from the Pacific,
fermenting ten percent of it in French oak to
enrich the portion vinified in stainless steel.
His 2016 is tense, earthy and saline, shy in
aroma and saturated in flavors of star fruit
and orange. There's a cactus-green note to
the finish, suggesting a match with a salad
of nopalitos, cherry tomatoes, radishes and
lime. § Ambrosia Chilena, Seattle, WA
123969

89 | Tabalí

90 | Tabalí

$13

2017 Limarí Valley Pedregoso Gran
Reserva Viognier ^ Spicy rather than overtly
floral, this is a luscious and creamy white
with kumquat flavors and some delicate
accents of orange blossom. It's gentle and
bright, a viognier to serve with pork roasted
with peaches. § Biagio Cru and Estate Wines,
New Hyde Park, NY

RE D
PINOT NOIR
124126

91 | Amayna

$35

2016 Leyda Valley Pinot Noir ^ A fruitdriven pinot noir, this has tangy scents of
blood orange, and supple impressions of red
cherry flesh. It's broad and rich, with a touch
of bitterness; to match pastel de choclo or the
dark meat of roast chicken. § Vine Connections,
Sausalito, CA

$15

2018 Limarí Valley Vetas Blancas Reserva
Especial Talinay Vineyard Sauvignon
Blanc (Best Buy) ^ Green lime flavors keep
this wine on the tart and narrow while greenfig richness gives a velvet feel to the texture.
It's dusty with dry spice, hinting at grape-skin
tannins, built for a tuna salad with grapes
and figs. § Biagio Cru and Estate Wines, New
Hyde Park, NY
123947

88 | Santa Carolina

124008
123960

$12

2018 Leyda Valley Leyda Estate Carolina Reserva Sauvignon Blanc (Best Buy) ^
Bright with spicy pink-grapefruit and juicy
white-peach flavors, this is a light, fresh sauvignon for seared scallops with yuzu. § Carolina Wine Brands USA, Charleston, SC

123965

91 | Tabalí

$30

2017 Limarí Valley Talinay Vineyard Pinot
Noir ^ This grows at the same vineyard as
Tabalí's sauvignon blanc recommended here,
a coastal site with pure white limestone soil.
Felipe Müller takes the fruit through a weeklong cold soak, ferments it cool in stainless
steel, then ages it for a year in French oak
barrels. Other than that oak influence,
there's little to tie this to other pinot noir-
it's more Chileno than varietal in its flavors.
There's a cactus note underlying the beefy
complexity, warm, round and spicy, with
an herbal, thyme-like flavor that lasts. The
tannins are dry, the wine needing rare roast
beef to show its best. § Biagio Cru and Estate
Wines, New Hyde Park, NY

90 | Ventisquero

$40

89 | Tabalí

$19

88 | Tabalí

$15

86 | Santa Carolina

$12

2016 Casablanca Valley Herú Pinot Noir ^
A selection from a 2.5-acre hillside vineyard,
this presents a bright, red-fruit-driven pinot
blanketed in the rich tannins of oak. If you
look past the New World ripeness, you might
find signs of where it's grown: Its fresh flavors triggered associations with desert foods
for tastings editor Rachel DelRocco Terrazas,
from nopales and tomatillo to shredded pork
with fruit salsa and avocado. § Austral Wine
Merchants, Atlanta, GA
123963
2016 Limarí Valley Vetas Blancas Reserva
Especial Espinal y Talinay Pinot Noir
(Best Buy) ^ This grows at two vineyards,
with 30 percent of the blend coming from the
limestone soils of Talinay, and the balance
from Espinal, where the vines grow in clay
and limestone. The wine is floral with violet
and lavender perfume, a sweet, meaty pinot
to serve with teriyaki-glazed beef. § Biagio Cru
and Estate Wines, New Hyde Park, NY
123958
2017 Limarí Valley Pedregoso Gran
Reserva Pinot Noir (Best Buy) ^ This is pinot
noir with the bright, lively drinkability of a
cru Beaujolais, the flavors presenting a different sort of grape scent, a little meaty, a
little spicy and green, like sensimilla. Crush
a bottle with a terrine of pork and green peppercorns. § Biagio Cru and Estate Wines, New
Hyde Park, NY
123948
2018 Leyda Valley Leyda Estate Reserva
Pinot Noir (Best Buy) ^ If you grilled a cherry
tomato and a red cherry, the taste of this
wine might fall somewhere between them.
It's clean, light and airy, a straight-on pinot
for seared duck breast. § Carolina Wine Brands
USA, Charleston, SC

WINE & SPIRITS

AUGUST 2019

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Wine & Spirits - August 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - August 2019
