Vina Koyle
Last time I tasted the 2010, so now it's time for the second vintage, which is the 2011 Auma -- the top-of-the-range blend that changes with the vintage; in 2011, it contained Carménère (37%), Cabernet Sauvignon (25%), Malbec (18%), Syrah (13%) and Petit Verdot (7%) from their Los Lingues Estate in the mountain part of Colchagua, the Colchagua Andes appellation. The vines were planted in 2008 at 500-550 meters on clay and basalt soils. The uncrushed grapes fermented with indigenous yeasts in 600-liter oak barrels that are rolled and no pumps whatsoever are used. Each variety matured separately for two years in 225-liter barrels, except for the Syrah that goes into 400-liter barrels, all made of French oak. After the time in oak, the different wines are blended and put into egg-shaped cement vats for a further nine months before bottling, completing a total upbringing of some 33 months before the wine is put in bottle. There are plenty of notes of cigar ash, balsamic woods and some roasted aromas -- a quite classical Bordeaux blend -- with blackberries, tobacco and graphite. The wine is terribly balanced with great freshness, still marked by the élevage, but nothing a little bottle aging would not fix. A monumental kind of wine. 3,700 bottles produced.
Luis Gutiérrez - 31/12/2015
Bottle
£75.00
This wine is a bin-end, discounted by 30%.
Textured, complex, yet as refreshing as a dawn dip in the Pacific, Costa will satisfy your hedonistic side while appealing to your inner wine geek. Winemaker Cristóbal Undurraga attributes its crystalline character to the rocky (granite and quartz) soils and maritime climate of Paredones, some 120 kilometres west of Koyle’s base in Los Lingues. But terroir isn’t the only talking point: a third of the final blend is barrel fermented, a third in stainless steel and the final third in concrete eggs.
Expect aromas of nettles, hay and bay leaf. The palate combines mouth-watering acidity with a compelling mealiness.
Will Heslop, Buyer. Berry Bros. & Rudd.
Bottle 6 x 75cl 3cs
Viña Koyle was founded in 2006 by Alfonso Undurraga Mackenna, former CEO of Viñas Undurraga, and his three sons and daughter at Los Lingues in the high Colchagua valley. This 60 hectare wine property has espoused organic and biodynamic principles from its inception.
Benefiting from five differing soils of volcanic origin, the property has taken great care to optimise the grape variety to soil type and vineyard microclimate. The wines are all fermented without excessive extraction to allow the fruit to be expressive and the oak regime is designed to complement rather than overwhelm the nose and palate.