Get your tastebuds ready for a unique and lively take on "old world" traditions! Chile's Garage Wine Co. makes wines of freshness, a sense of where they came from and resonate with food. The winery really did start in a garage, a popular place for small producers to challenge the idea that worthwhile wines can only be made by grand estates with grand budgets.
Started in 2003 by Derek Mossman Knapp, Pilar Miranda and Alvaro Pena, they were driven to revive old vineyards and display Chile's character in a more transparent fashion. These true terroir wines come from various small plots along Chile's coastal mountain range in the more southerly Maule region, and higher altitude sites in the central Maipo Valley. Today, the Garage Wine Co. owns about a third of these plots, but they have been happy working with the small farmers who own the rest, paying a fair price for their efforts in producing better grapes. While they work with very familiar varieties, as well as Pais (aka Mission) whose presence here goes back to the 1500s, they make their wines to display the region's personal style rather than try to replicate what people are used to elsewhere.
These are also wines on the 'natural' side of the spectrum, showing plenty of savory, earthy elements complementing the crisp fruit and floral characters: fermented with native yeast, the skins are manually punched down in small batches (sometimes first crushed by foot), then pressed in an old-fashioned basket press, age in older barrels to avoid covering the fruit, and add only small amounts of sulfites after fermentations are done. The farming traditions here are mostly intact: they and their sources practice organic or sustainable farming without irrigation, involving local farmers and workers who know the vineyards well, and who often use horses to plow. Even the source of the recycled bottles, the paint for labeling and wax sealing are all a result of finding local solutions for their needs.
The wines will really pop when served at a cool 60-62F, and all benefit from aeration, so decant and give them some time in the glass.
"Ripe and savory nose with pretty currants and hints of iron and graphite. Black olives and tobacco leaf, too. Full-bodied on the palate with plenty of fine-grained tannins and juicy fruit. Pretty compact, concentrated and long. Lot 111. " - JAMES SUCKLING
WINE ADVOCATE 94 POINTS - "... produced with fruit from 65+-year-old vines on alluvial soils with round stones (40-50 centimeters in size). The vineyard produces 1.5 kilos per plant of small bunches. They feel they were more accurate with the harvest date this time to achieve a fresher and more elegant wine with 14.1% alcohol and a pH of 3.47 and 6.14 grams of acidity. As with the majority of wines, it fermented in open vats with native yeasts with the cap punched down by hand and matured over two winters in well-seasoned, neutral French oak barrels. It feels harmonious, balanced, powerful and elegant with fine-grained tannins, varietal and precise. 5,728 bottles were filled in February 2021."
Started in 2003 by Derek Mossman Knapp, Pilar Miranda and Alvaro Pena, they were driven to revive old vineyards and display Chile's character in a more transparent fashion. These true terroir wines come from various small plots along Chile's coastal mountain range in the more southerly Maule region, and higher altitude sites in the central Maipo Valley. Today, the Garage Wine Co. owns about a third of these plots, but they have been happy working with the small farmers who own the rest, paying a fair price for their efforts in producing better grapes. While they work with very familiar varieties, as well as Pais (aka Mission) whose presence here goes back to the 1500s, they make their wines to display the region's personal style rather than try to replicate what people are used to elsewhere.
These are also wines on the 'natural' side of the spectrum, showing plenty of savory, earthy elements complementing the crisp fruit and floral characters: fermented with native yeast, the skins are manually punched down in small batches (sometimes first crushed by foot), then pressed in an old-fashioned basket press, age in older barrels to avoid covering the fruit, and add only small amounts of sulfites after fermentations are done. The farming traditions here are mostly intact: they and their sources practice organic or sustainable farming without irrigation, involving local farmers and workers who know the vineyards well, and who often use horses to plow. Even the source of the recycled bottles, the paint for labeling and wax sealing are all a result of finding local solutions for their needs.
The wines will really pop when served at a cool 60-62F, and all benefit from aeration, so decant and give them some time in the glass.
"Ripe and savory nose with pretty currants and hints of iron and graphite. Black olives and tobacco leaf, too. Full-bodied on the palate with plenty of fine-grained tannins and juicy fruit. Pretty compact, concentrated and long. Lot 111. " - JAMES SUCKLING
WINE ADVOCATE 94 POINTS - "... produced with fruit from 65+-year-old vines on alluvial soils with round stones (40-50 centimeters in size). The vineyard produces 1.5 kilos per plant of small bunches. They feel they were more accurate with the harvest date this time to achieve a fresher and more elegant wine with 14.1% alcohol and a pH of 3.47 and 6.14 grams of acidity. As with the majority of wines, it fermented in open vats with native yeasts with the cap punched down by hand and matured over two winters in well-seasoned, neutral French oak barrels. It feels harmonious, balanced, powerful and elegant with fine-grained tannins, varietal and precise. 5,728 bottles were filled in February 2021."
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