Chile’s Viña Los Vascos, part of Domaines Barons de Rothschild (DBdR) Lafite, has launched a new, “modern and contemporary” wine, Cañeten, billed as the culmination of 20 years of exploration in Colchagua’s coastal foothills.
The wine – a blend of 54% Syrah grown on granitic soils, 43% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3% Cabernet Franc – “reflects the terroir and how we work”, winemaker Diego Márquez de la Plata said during a recent tasting over Zoom. The idea being “to use the wine as an example of this place, of the granitic soils and the unique freshness it produces”.
Although the project is only at the beginning (2022 is the first vintage to be released), Márquez de la Plata has high hopes that “it’s going to be a really interesting wine in the future”.
Executive chairwoman of DBdR Lafite Saskia de Rothschild called it “a wine that breaks the conventional codes of Chilean iconic wines… [and] embodies both the present and the future of Los Vascos”.
The project is the result of extensive research into the terroir, which involved digging hundreds of soil pits to discover more about the complex soils, and select the best sites and exposures for each vine. The La Aguina vineyard was established in 2013, and divided into eight plots. It is set within native forest and grassland, and cradled between two ridges in the coastal range that form a crescent-shaped arc marking Los Vascos’ southwestern boundary.
The microclimate is heavily influenced by Cerro Cañetén, the tallest peak in the coastal range, which overlooks the site. The wines are being released on limited allocation in the UK (RRP: £150), Belgium and Germany, along with the key Canadian market and Hong Kong.
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