Venateros Bravos Volcanico Pais (Mission)

Leonardo Erazo is a rare talent. The diversity of experience and knowledge he possesses on all subjects surrounding wine is impressive. After graduating from the University of Chile with a degree in Agronomy and Enology, he traveled the world for a decade working for various estates doing research in soil science, geology and bio-dynamics. We have worked with many winemakers over the years and few speak with as much humility and authority as he does, and on such a broad array of subjects that pertain to winemaking and viticulture.

Leo's minimalistic style of winemaking and growing requires exceptional discretion on his part, combining some modern techniques with established traditions. He believes that the best dry-farmed ancient vineyards found in the Itata Valley require as little stylizing as possible to showcase the deep expression of their terroirs. While employing bio-dynamic principals, he uses the advice of the experienced local farmers who have been naturally farming this region for centuries.

Pais,

Volcanico Pais comes from very old vine (100 years and more) grown on pure basalt (volcanic) soil.

Hand harvested, fermentation starts spontaneously with native yeast, Malolactic fermentation occurs naturally. it is fermented and aged in concrete vats, the extraction is very subtle. The skins are basket press. The wine is then aged in large wood vessels and after 14 months is bottled with a very coarse filtration.

Light and juicy, with captivating dark fruits, an earthy, herbal touch and fine grippy tannins on the finish. The aromas of cinder and ash one usually expects from volcanic wines the world over are folded into an array of soft red and orange fruits. A fresh wine, delicate, marked by fine grain tannins that give a very unique structure and create a long lingering finish with a distinctive mineral character due to the volcanic soils where the old vines thrive.

Chill it down and drink it with donner kebab. Trust us, its great! Other top pairings, well seasoned grilled lamb.

Nolan - Text from the Spotlight on the Red Wines of the America’s Blog

Our first stop on the quest to find the gems of Latin America is Chile. The country stretches a staggering 2700 miles from North to South and a tiny 100 miles East to West. Bizarrely, it is the East to West positioning of vineyards that have more of a bearing on the wine styles produced in the country instead of the North to South. This is down to 3 distinct zones running from East to West, Pacific/Coastal Zone, Central Zone, Andean Zone. These distinct zones all come with unique benefits and challenges. It is not until you reach the extreme North of the Atacama Region or the far South of Chile that the latitude begins to have more of an influence than the longitude.

Our first wine is from the Itata Valley, one of Chile’s Southernmost and chilliest wine regions. Itata is also one of the first regions in the country to have been tamed to the vine, with plantings going back as far as the 1550’s. The high-altitude Coastal Range, which moderates the weather conditions to many vineyards in the more Northern, and better-known valleys such as Aconcagua, Colchagua, Maipo and Maule, peters out to small hillocks and rises as it reaches the port city of Concepcion. This leaves the Itata valley, only 40 miles from the port, relatively exposed to the vast Pacific Ocean. This means that weather patterns moving from the Pacific to the Andes are unhindered, resulting in cold breezes, higher rainfall and cloud cover. Despite these wetter and cooler conditions, Itata still benefits from the intense Chilean sunshine, as a little proof to this, the main town here is Chillan, meaning "the place where the sun is" in the local Mapuche language.

So, here we find ourselves in one of the oldest wine regions in Chile, with a wine produced from one of the first planted grape varieties in the country, this is a wine made with the grape Pais. Pais, known as Mission in English, was a grape of great value to the early colonisers, it produces a bountiful supply of berries, perfect for slaking the thirsts of the new Spanish population of Itata, with much of the Pais harvest also going straight into communion wines.

The bountiful yields of Pais have never been renowned in history for producing quality wines. The vast clusters of berries have little concentration of flavour, they have low acidity and low amounts of colour. So to summarise, high yielding, bland insipid grapes, making bland, uninspiring wines, why do we first of all stock this and then why have I chosen to bring this wine to your attention? Well, Itata has some incredibly old vines which were never grubbed up. These older vines have naturally reduced yields leading to more concentration in the berries. The vine roots thrust deep into the bedrock, sucking up the minerals of the earth the vines are grown in and showing off the exceptional terroir of Itata. The Pais vines for this wine are well over 100 years old and are planted in volcanic soils of pure basalt, having a profound effect on the resulting fruit.

Venateros Bravos is a fully biodynamic producer, with a very holistic, minimal intervention approach to viticulture and can be considered a fully “natural” producer. The wine is aged in large wood vessels for 14 months, after which it is bottled with a very coarse filtration so it will kick a sediment. The result is a captivating wine with fresh vibrant berries, herbs and a distinct earthiness that builds to an almost ashy, cinder note very typical of the far more expensive red wines grown on the slopes of Mount Etna in Sicily! It is precisely this ashy, smokiness that makes this wine amazing with food cooked on coals, aubergine or meat, both work. Personally, I think this is great chilled down and served with a shawarma or doner kebab.