Miguel Torres Cordillera Carignan, Maule Valley

Description

Miguel Torres Cordillera Carignan is a blend of 85% Carignan, 8% Syrah, 6% Merlot sourced from old, dry vineyard in the Maule Valley. Miguel Torres acquired a small winery in Curicó, in the Chilean central valley, in 1979. It was the first foreign company to back Chilean vineyard production. After almost thirty years, those original 100 hectares have turned into 445 hectares of vineyards owned by the company itself. The excellent climate conditions for cultivating grapevines, with great temperature differences between night and day and lands free of grape phylloxera, have contributed to the fact that sublime wines are being made in lands from where one can view the greatness of the Andes, crowned by snow and a noble beauty. As of 2010 Miguel Torres Chile is directed by Miguel Torres Maczassek, a fifth generation Torres winemaker who moved to Chile with his family in order to maintain the tradition and passion for winemaking that the Torres family has demonstrated for over a hundred years.

Some of the Carignan vines in the Maule Valley from which this wine is made are up to 80 years old and are some of the world’s oldest. Carignan has always been considered something of a workhorse grape variety and it is normally blended with other grape varieties as is the case her and it was in danger of falling into obscurity in Chile. Miguel Torres Cordillera Carignan is made in accordance with “Vigno” or the Vignadores de Carignan a association of Chilean wine growers who have banded together to make and promote wines made from dry grown, old Carignan vines in the Maule Valley.

Miguel Torres Cordillera Carignan is aged for 12 months in French oak barrels, 30% new, 70% one year old.