Wine Region: Bío Bío

(2016) From Bio Bio and volcanic soils known in Chile as Trumao – red clay. From a foggy spot. Very nice Pinot nose, with a lovely truffle and mushroom character, a certain smokiness, a beetrooty note and delicious ripe plum fruit. Silky palate, so much sweet fruit, sappy, earthy, lovely subtle spice. Long too. A great Chilean pinot, with velvety tannins.

(2010) Santa Ana Estate. 8 tonnes per hectare. Part whole bunch for this and the Pinots that follow. Smokier, slightly more graphite nose, with briar and some mushroom and a nice red fruit character. The palate has lovely silkiness and weight, the tannins quite grippy and the acidity lean, giving again a nice balance and sense of focus to the wine in the finish.

(2010) Miraflores estate. 8 tonnes per hectare. Nice briar and slightly tobacco nose, with some leaf tea notes. The palate has fine cherry and orangy acidity, with terrific clarity and focus. Lovely wine with great balance again and elegance.

(2010) Miraflores estate. 8 tonnes per hectare. Herbs, liquorice and some ashy notes to this, with a fine cherry and plum fruit. The palate has a terrific juiciness, with very fine acidity and that leafy, slightly tobacco and ashy character really pushing through. The earthy, truffly character is delightful and complex.

(2010) Santa Carla estate, Millerandage Vineyard. 6 tonnes per hectare. A selection of the bunches and grapes that are smaller, normally because they have got cooler conditions in Spring. The berries are more concentrated. They are separated at harvest time. All the vineyard and winery processes follow the biodynamic moon calendar. The wine is 100% whole-bunch. Fabulously deep, plumy, chocolate and briar nose, with a fine earthiness and a delicately herbal note of sage and smoky thyme. The fruit on the palate is very pretty - it has substance and weight, with a plumy character, but the lithe, fine tannins and the elegant acidity are delightfully poised, with a touch of orange in the finish and some spice.

(2010) Bío Bío, Santa Ana Estate. A touch of herbaceous character on the nose, with a farmyard undertone and the black fruit of the Malbec just coming though. The more floral character just peaking though in this wine. The palate has good freshness and balance, with some liquorice but a slightly under-fruited mid-palate, the oak and spice dominating the finish.

(2010) Bío Bío fruit. A touch of honey to some tropical fruit, passionfruit and a touch of gooseberry. On the palate this has a ripeness, but the fruit is very cool and citrusy. There's a tropical fruit sweetness at its core, with a nice balance and drinkability.

(2010) Bío Bío fruit. There's a touch of tropical, mango fruit here, and seems a little riper. Big mineral hit on the palate, with a salty tang and a bit of fat to the texture, but that dry, lemony acidity comes through nicely.

(2010) Bío Bío Quinel Estate. 20% fermented in stainless steel barrels with a lot of lees stirring. Experimented with oak barrels, but even with older barrels it marked the wine too much. Big, unctuous nose, with lots of punchy tropical fruit and a herbaceous, powerful edge. Big, palate filling mouthful of exotic lychee and mango fruit, a little of that herbal character and lovely acidity. Very nicely done.

(2010) Bío Bío Valley El Carmen Estate. Mineral nose, with a touch of waxiness and some pear skin quality. The palate has nice freshness and acidity, but it lacks a little complexity and seems more powerful than subtle, and perhaps a little too much so.