Viñedos Herrera Alvarado, “Cuero de Vaca” 2019

Producer Profile: In the north of Chile, Carolina Alvarado and Arturo Herrera will help you travel back in time. Instead of stepping into a Tardis (Dr. Who s/o, anyone?), their method of time travel is imbibed: to drink one of the wines crafted here on their tiny estate in the Marga Marga Valley is to be transported back to the northern Chile of the 14th century, when you might have been sitting in a clay adobe with an expert winegrowing Huazo (countryman-farmer) sharing a bottle of their own-rooted old-vine País. The upshot for Carolina and Arturo is – that you might as well be doing exactly that today with them. Having built their own adobe style cellar out of the abundant clay soils of the Marga Marga Valley, they work their 2 hectares of land entirely themselves, by hand, farming biodynamically, fermenting in unique old vessels (including a fermenter whose material is bullhide leather!), all without electricity. The living past; the living bottle. So open one of theirs and follow the tail of history all the way to the bottom of your glass. You can almost taste the Pacific Ocean in the salty air on a day as clear as this.

Vinification: 100% Pinot Noir from vines grown on clay soils at an elevation of 320 meters. Grapes were hand-harvested and fermented whole-cluster for 17 days, using wild yeasts, in stretched cowhide (yes, you read that correctly!). Wind is then racked into old barrels to rest on the lees for about a year. Unfined, unfiltered, no SO2. 

Tasting: A medium-bodied, perfectly-balanced wine that toes the line between savoriness, smokiness and fruit, like barbecued peaches and tomatoes drizzled with olive oil and salt. Mouth-watering acidity. Though the leather that the wine is fermented in doesn't impart any overpowering elements, it adds a layer of earthiness that mingles nicely with the ripe fruit of the Pinot Noir. Serve chilled!