2015 Pandolfi Price Larkün Chardonnay, Valle del Itata
Critics reviews
Luis Gutirrez - 28/04/2017
No oak. Fresh and crunchy. Just a little sweet as well as green.
About this WINE
Pandolfi Price, Agricola Santa Ines
Enzo Pandolfi Burzio and his wife, Gillian Price Saffery, bought an exceptional site in the cool Itata valley in Chile in 2002. Their background was not in wine at all; Gillian was from a farming family and Enzo was a doctor, although had had a huge love and respect for farming all his life. They found their site through a newspaper advertisement and went to visit it with their son, Enzo Pandolfi Price, who is very much involved in the venture. They immediately fell in love with the farm; 25 hectares of Chardonnay vines had been planted there since 1992 on volcanic clay soil and the family dry-farmed the vines and sold their grapes to other wine companies until 2007.
By their own admission, they knew nothing about viticulture when they started and every day brought new experiences and fresh challenges. However, they did gradually realise that the fruit from their terroir was of very high quality and, after a chance meeting with respected Chilean winemaker, Francois Massoc, who confirmed their impressions, they decided to set up on their own and made their first wines in 2008. 2010 was the first vintage released to market.
Two wines are currently made, both Chardonnays. Reminiscent of a Chablis, the Larkün is unoaked, does not undergo malolactic fermentation (MLF) and therefore retains its crisp, fresh style with the intention to show the pure, fresh, varietal side of their Chardonnay. It is aged on lees for 18 months to add texture. ‘Larkün’ is the root mapuche word for Larqui, the name of the river that goes through the vineyards.
The top wine, Los Patricios, is named after Enzo Pandolfi Price’s grandfather. It is cask fermented and aged for 20 months and goes through full MLF, resulting in a complex and elegant wine, worthy of comparison with a fine Chassagne-Montrachet. We have been extremely impressed with the quality of these wines, both of which have the fine, crisp acidity of their cool-climate Itata origins. Following the advice of renowned Chilean viticultutalist, Dr Pedro Parra, the Pandolfi Price family has since planted a further 25 hectares of land on their farm with Pinot Noir, Syrah, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling. Watch this space.
Catriona Felstead MW
Itata Valley
Itata Valley is a cool climate wine region in Chile, located 400 km (250 mi) south of Santiago. Some of the earliest vineyards were planted near the port city of Concepción during colonial times. Pais, Muscat of Alexandria, Cinsault and Carignan, dominate the vineyards, although international grape varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay are gaining ground.
Chardonnay
Chardonnay is often seen as the king of white wine grapes and one of the most widely planted in the world It is suited to a wide variety of soils, though it excels in soils with a high limestone content as found in Champagne, Chablis, and the Côte D`Or.
Burgundy is Chardonnay's spiritual home and the best White Burgundies are dry, rich, honeyed wines with marvellous poise, elegance and balance. They are unquestionably the finest dry white wines in the world. Chardonnay plays a crucial role in the Champagne blend, providing structure and finesse, and is the sole grape in Blanc de Blancs.
It is quantitatively important in California and Australia, is widely planted in Chile and South Africa, and is the second most widely planted grape in New Zealand. In warm climates Chardonnay has a tendency to develop very high sugar levels during the final stages of ripening and this can occur at the expense of acidity. Late picking is a common problem and can result in blowsy and flabby wines that lack structure and definition.
Recently in the New World, we have seen a move towards more elegant, better- balanced and less oak-driven Chardonnays, and this is to be welcomed.
When is a wine ready to drink?
We provide drinking windows for all our wines. Alongside the drinking windows there is a bottle icon and a maturity stage. Bear in mind that the best time to drink a wine does also depend on your taste.
Not ready
These wines are very young. Whilst they're likely to have lots of intense flavours, their acidity or tannins may make them feel austere. Although it isn't "wrong" to drink these wines now, you are likely to miss out on a lot of complexity by not waiting for them to mature.
Ready - youthful
These wines are likely to have plenty of fruit flavours still and, for red wines, the tannins may well be quite noticeable. For those who prefer younger, fruitier wines, or if serving alongside a robust meal, these will be very enjoyable. If you choose to hold onto these wines, the fruit flavours will evolve into more savoury complexity.
Ready - at best
These wines are likely to have a beautiful balance of fruit, spice and savoury flavours. The acidity and tannins will have softened somewhat, and the wines will show plenty of complexity. For many, this is seen as the ideal time to drink and enjoy these wines. If you choose to hold onto these wines, they will become more savoury but not necessarily more complex.
Ready - mature
These wines are likely to have plenty of complexity, but the fruit flavours will have been almost completely replaced by savoury and spice notes. These wines may have a beautiful texture at this stage of maturity. There is lots to enjoy when drinking wines at this stage. Most of these wines will hold in this window for a few years, though at the very end of this drinking window, wines start to lose complexity and decline.
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Description
The unoaked 2015 Larkün Chardonnay was sourced from vines planted in 1992 on soils rich in clay, sand and volcanic ashes in Itata. It fermented in stainless steel and didn't go through malolactic fermentation but was kept in contact with the lees for 12 months to show a purer expression of the place and the grape. 2015 was cooler than 2014 but still warmer than average and also very dry, and the wine shows quite fresh and somehow austere, slowly developing more balsamic aromas. The palate is also quite fresh and austere with pungent flavors and a slightly bitter finish. 3,800 bottles were filled in March 2016.
Drink 2017-2019.
Luis Gutiérrez, The Wine Advocate. 28th April 2017.
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