Alice is a good friend of ours and has been importing delicious minimal intervention Chilean wines for a number of years and has also made wine of her own here in Victoria. In 2019 she moved to Chile and as well as continuing to import these wines into Australia she has started making her own Chilean wine and her second releases have just arrived! Alice has now found a handful of growers who she can confidently collaborate with and who are invested in chemical free farming. Sergio Parra in Chorrillos grows País and Moscatel de Alejandría. The vines are on quartz heavy granite, the slopes are S, SE and SW facing, so soils have varying levels of redder clay but all are less decomposed and mostly whiter and sandier. Proximity to the ocean also makes this a cooler site. It’s in a very privileged and isolated spot with lots of fresh breeze and very little disease pressure. Soledad Camaaño grows coastal whites (Moscatel, Chasselas, Torontel, Moscatel Rosado, amongst other unidentified old grapes), the site has been chemical free for decades. 12km from the sea, completely granitic sand, varying levels of decomposition depending on the direction and grading of the slope. It has the most balanced temperatures and a significant coastal mist that settles early in the day and lifts late in the morning. There’s always a very surprising aromatic intensity to these grapes. We don’t mind a later pick to get that intensity because the acid is always there. Soledad is a sort of grape whisperer, she spends time talking to the vines, and she’s more and more a part of the winemaking process as well.

The 2021 Pipeño Pastiche is made from Moscatel de Alejandría and Chasselas from Chorrillos + La Unión, Itata. Several separate picks and ferments over the month of March. Everything was hand destemmed using the zaranda, leaving a lot of whole berry, aged in stainless steel with 35% skins for 11 months sous voile. 25ppm So2 added at bottling. Art by Natalie Valenzuela. This wine is loaded with big tropical fruit vibes. Pineapple & lime. Reminiscent of frosty fruit icy poles. Sharp acidity and fine grippy tannic texture. Delicious!