Truquilemu Vineyard
Empedrado – Maule Valley
Carignan Field-blend
2016 – Lot 77

“The really grand and elegant 2016 Truquilemu Vineyard starts off quite shy and takes some time to open up in the glass. They used a little more stems for the fermentation (stems are added rather than using the full clusters), as they don’t like carbonic maceration. This is characterful, floral, subtle and really elegant while keeping the varietal profile. The tannins are very fine grained, and the palate feels really balanced. This has to be the stuff wine dreams are made of!” – LG

Carignan – 12 barrels
Mataró – 1 barrel

5230 bottles filled Dic 2018

Acidez titulable: 7,5 g/l
pH: 3,21
Residual Sugar: 2,29 g/l
Alcohol: 13,5 % vol
S02 8,4

In a Nutshell

1 of 11 wines we make from single parcels
Grower / partner Orellana family
Ancestral farming cultivating vineyard by hand and horse
Barrel aged over two Winters
Truquilemu is perhaps the freshest corner of The Maule secano where reds just manage to ripen.
Truquilemu Vineyard is found on the Coastal Range of mountains (much older and slower to cool than the Andes) Soils are granitic and sub-soils have cracked granite that allow roots to get deep into cracks.

This wine was grown by a small farmer in the Maule. It was farmed by hand and horse with traditional methods of dry-farming 70+ year old vines with vines.

It was fermented naturally in small tanks with open-tops. Caps were punched down by hand and pressing was strictly manual. The wine was aged in barrels over two winters— barrels of three or more uses.

This wine is a tribute to the resilience of the ploughmen farmers of the Maule who have been stewards of the vines since colonial times. The 77th wine we have produced since 2001 it is thus labelled Lot # 77

Vintage 2016:
Maule in 2016 was an almost optimal year. What began with worries about the lack of rainfall turned into a terrific quality fruit. On our parcels specifically, improvements with control of mildew on the Carignan (Oidio) made for improvements which offset less rain falling which should have led to lower yields in the secano. If one manages parcel by parcel, cultivating the soil properly, the rains of any given year do not have the heightened pendulum effect many assume they should. Rainfall over multiple years on neighboring hills above the vineyards is responsible for the water table – not just the same year’s rains. Great year. (Toto we are not in Maipo anymore)

Denominación de Origen: Truquilemu / Empedrado / Maule Valley (Secano Interior)

Color: Yes

Tipo: Understated and layered– driven by florality & finesse

Tipo de uva: Carignan with smidgens of Mataró and Pais in the field-blend

The Vineyard:
It is hard to imagine someone having the patience (and a financial advisor!) willing to plant a red vineyard in this part of Empedrado. It is simply so cool most years. It must have taken forever for these vineyards to have come into their own. Thank god someone had the foresight to be patient all those years ago whilst the vineyard could grow old. (Question: if golf where invented today, how many holes would it have?)

the Making :

Ancestral farming by hand and horse
Naturally fermented with native yeasts
Open top fermenters. Caps were punched down by hand. Pressing manual.
Small portion was made with whole stems stomped with clean feet—this part was glorious and have done more bin experiments ever since.
Aged in barrels over two winters— barrels third use or more.
Yeasts native (we add Truquilemu wine from previous vintage to a pie de cuba)
No temp control (besides opening closing windows) open tank, no nada
Pinch of sulfites after Malolactic that normally finishes a full 7 months after harvest with next summer´s heat the following January.

Crianza:

Aged in barrels over two winters— barrels third use or more.
various cooperages (Sylvain, Berger, Nadalie – Alliers Noisette toast, and some Burgundy barrels)

T a s t i n g N o t e s

“The nose is floral, elegant and subtle, a little closed at first, becoming deeper and more nuanced with time in the glass. The palate shows great freshness with a thread of fine acidity going through its backbone. It has character, notes of the earth and also those violets only the best Carin?ena can provide. Plain great, with a long life ahead.”
— Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate # 222

“This is superb Carignan-based red with earth, smoked meat and old vine aromas and flavors. Full body, round and juicy tannins and a flavorful finish. Soulful.”
— James Suckling

Spice- and mineral-accented aromas of red and blue fruit joined by slowly emerging violet and rhubarb notes. Sappy and concentrated but lithe as well, offering energetic black raspberry, spicecake and floral pastille flavors and a bracing, refreshingly bitter suggestion of blood orange that adds bite to the back half. Finishes smooth, sweet and extremely long, with resonating floral and spice notes and supple tannins adding shape and gentle grip—Josh Raynolds

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C r i t i c s N o t e s

Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate # 239
Truquilemu Vineyard Maule Valley Carignan, Field-blend 2016 – Lot # 77 – 97 Pts
The really grand and elegant 2016 Truquilemu Vineyard starts off quite shy and takes some time to open up in the glass. They used a little more stems for the fermentation (stems are added rather than using the full clusters), as they don’t like carbonic maceration. This is characterful, floral, subtle and really elegant while keeping the varietal profile. The tannins are very fine grained, and the palate feels really balanced. This has to be the stuff wine dreams are made of!

Previous Vintages — same single vineyard parcel

Descorchados 2018 Patricio Tapia
Truquilemu Vineyard Maule Valley Carignan, Field-blend 2015 – Lot # 67 – 95 Pts
Este es un bruto, al menos al comienzo. Pero pónganle atención. Una mezcla de carignan (22 barricas de 225 litros) más una de monastrell o mataró, aquí hay una pared de taninos, una pared enorme, gruesa, impenetrable. Pero ojo, que una vez que pasan esa pared, el regalo es una cascada de frutas rojas, intensas, nerviosas, deliciosas en su frescor. Es otra cara, una cara opuesta que se encuentra oculta tras esa pared. Este vino viene de un solo viñedo de carignan y de monastrell injertado sobre cepa país, en la zona de Truquilemu, mirando a la Cordillera de la Costa.

Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate # 239
Truquilemu Vineyard Maule Valley Carignan, Field-blend 2015 – Lot # 67 – 94 Pts
The 2015 Truquilemu Vineyard reveals the wild and somewhat rustic character of the Carignan—a little earthy, with a touch of smoked meat. It’s very tasty and has the granite texture on the palate. This year they started using some stems in the vinification, an innovation that continued in 2016. 5,230 bottles were filled in November 2016, as they always like to age their single-vineyard reds for two winters before they are bottled. Drink 2018-2025 Luis Gutierrez

Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate # 23o
Truquilemu Vineyard Maule Valley Carignan, Field-blend 2014 – Lot # 57 – 95 Pts
The Carignan with smidgens of Mataró and País in the field blend bottled as 2014 Truquilemu Vineyard comes from an old dry-farmed vineyard belonging to the Orellana family in the cooler Empedrado zone in Maule. Mossman describes this as “Understated and layered—driven by florality & finesse.” The wines never have any impact from the élevage and tend to have moderate alcohol and very good acidity and freshness. This is no exception. It has incredible freshness with notes of blood orange peel and wild herbs—floral, insinuating, harmonious and elegant. The palate is elegant and shows vibrant acidity, is super balanced and incredibly tasty. This is very much like the Vigno. 6,428 bottles were filled from 21 barrels of Cariñena and one of Mataró (Monastrell) in November 2015. In fact, they select a number of these barrels to make their Vigno bottling. Drink 2017-2025 Luis Gutierrez

Descorchados 2017 Patricio Tapia
Truquilemu Vineyard Maule Valley Carignan, Field-blend 2014 – Lot # 57 – 95 Pts
Los aromas son frescos, de bayas rojas y negras. La boca es vo- luptuosa, amable, luego jugosa y con un agarre sutil.

James Suckling .com May 25^th 2017
Truquilemu Vineyard Maule Valley Carignan, Field-blend 2014 – Lot # 57 – 94 Pts
A tangy red with earth, spice and dried fruit follows through to a medium body and firm tannins and fresh finish. Lovely decadence. Drink now

Previous Vintages — same single vineyard parcel

James Suckling .com 2015
GARAGE WINE Co. LOT #47 – TRUQUILEMU VINEYARD CARIGNAN
This is superb carignan-based red with earth, smoked meat and old vine aromas and flavors. Full body, round and juicy tannins and a flavorful finish. Soulful. Drink now. 94 pts James Suckling

Wine Advocate – Robert Parker , #222 Dec 2015
Truquilemu Vineyard Maule Valley Carignan, Field-blend 2013 – Lot # 47 – 94 Pts
There were 19 barrels of the 2013 Truquilemu Vineyard Lot #47, which is from the Empedrado zone in the Maule Valley. This is closer to the coast full of granitic soils with some layered parts, kind of schists, which allow the roots to go deep. The nose is floral, elegant and subtle, a little closed at first, becoming deeper and more nuanced with time in the glass. The palate shows great, citric freshness with a thread of fine acidity going through its backbone. This is mostly Cariñena mixed in the field with other varieties picked and fermented together, but the Cariñena represents more than 85% of the blend in the wine. It has character, notes of the earth and also those violets only the best Cariñena can provide. Plain great, with a long life ahead. I had the chance to visit the vineyard later on and it’s one of those places that when you see them, you understand IT HAS to produce great wine. And in a fresh vintage like 2013, it certainly does. Some 6,800 bottles were produced. Drink 2015 – 2023 Luis Gutierrez

Wine Align
Truquilemu Vineyard Maule Valley Carignan, Field-blend 2013 – Lot # 47 – 94 Pts
Truquilemu field-blend of carignan, garnacha & mataró is grown by a small farmer using ancestral hand and horse methods in the tradition of the Secano Costero. This strikes an accord in similarity to Lot #48 but here of a more pronounced, deeper cure that is not just grape-derived but takes a bigger risk. More granitic, schist syrah-like with charcuterie aridity and the intense tang of dried smoky, meaty flesh running through its veins. More hematic, ferric too, deeper, grittier and firm. This carries tannin and will go three to five winters deep, at least. But you never forget about the fruit here. There are blueberries mixed into the red drupe. A complex conclusion is drawn. Drink 2018-2023. Tasted September 2016. Wait 3-5 years – Michael Godel

Vinous – Antonio Galloni, Feb 2017
Truquilemu Vineyard Maule Valley Carignan, Field-blend 2013 – Lot # 47 – 93 Pts
(aged in used French oak barrels for two years; pH 3.31) Full ruby. Spice- and mineral-accented aromas of red and blue fruit liqueur, incense and cola are joined by slowly emerging violet and rhubarb notes. Sappy and concentrated but lithe as well, offering energetic black raspberry, spicecake and floral pastille flavors and a bracing, refreshingly bitter suggestion of blood orange that adds bite to the back half. Finishes smooth, sweet and extremely long, with resonating floral and spice notes and supple tannins adding shape and gentle grip. Drink 2018 – 2023 Josh Raynolds

Tim Atkin MW
Truquilemu Vineyard Maule Valley Carignan, Field-blend 2013 – Lot # 47 – 93 Pts
Mataro is the other, much smaller component in this Carignan-dominated blend from Maule. Briary, spicy and refreshing, it has aromas of violet and iodine, a hint of green malt, brine, peppery, plummy flavours and a stylish, savoury finish. 2017-23

Descorchados 2016 Patricio Tapia
Truquilemu Vineyard Maule Valley Carignan, Field-blend 2013 – Lot # 47 – 93 Pts
Cien por cien carignan, este es un vino vivo, lleno de frutas rojas, tenso, salvaje en textura. Necesita el asado, ojalá vivo. Patricio Tapia

Descorchados nota sobre Truquilemu Vineyard
Precisamente en viñedos del secano del Maule se origina Lot # 47 Truquilemu Vineyard 2013. Se trata de un carignan de viejas parras en una zona muy cercana a la costa, sobre suelos graníticos. Esta es la tercera versión de este vino, con una producción de 6.129 botellas, es la más grande que Garage hace para su catálogo. Este Lot se siente vivo, rico en frutas rojas y notas florales, recio en textura, ideal para embutidos del Maule. Otro de sus carignan es Vigno (parte del grupo Vignadores de Carignan) que viene de Empedra- do, una de las zonas más frescas del secano costero del Maule. También se trata de parras muy viejas, sin irrigación artificial. Este vino, como todos los tintos de Garage en la línea Lot y en Vigno, se cría por “dos inviernos” en barricas, las más nuevas de tres años de uso. Se trata de carignanes de viejas parras en una zona muy cercana a la costa, sobre suelos graníticos. Este vino, como todos los tintos de Garage en la línea Lot y en Vigno, se cría por “dos inviernos” en barricas, las más nuevas de tres años de uso. “Cuando vas a comprar vinos por la zona, los viejos te dicen que el vino que lleva dos inviernos de crianza es el mejor” –dice Mossman. El resultado es el tinto clásico que se necesita para refrescar una tarde de asado con los amigos. Su acidez es intensa, pero también su lado terroso y su textura punzante.

Wine Advocate – Robert Parker , #222 Dec 2015
The 2012 Lot #39 Carignan Garnacha Mataró Field Blend is from the Truquilemu Vineyard in Empedrado, in the Maule Valley, a zone closer to the coast. This is the older sibling of Lot #47 from 2013, and feels riper, headier, with notes of plums among those decayed violets, earth and tree bark, rustically elegant. The palate is medium-bodied with the signature high acidity of the Cariñena; all these wines have unbelievably low pH, but here the soils and proximity to the sea makes them higher in freshness and acidity. 3,500 bottles produced. 92 pts Drink now-2019

Pictures of this vineyard taken over the past few years:

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Oct 7

Truquilemu VineyardEmpedrado – Maule ValleyCarignan Field-blend2016 – Lot 77

T a s t i n g N o t e s

C r i t i c s N o t e s

Previous Vintages — same single vineyard parcel

#gwcotruquilemuvineyard

Truquilemu Vineyard
Empedrado – Maule Valley
Carignan Field-blend
2016 – Lot 77