2008 Bodegas RE Lomajes de Viña Roja Carignan, Maule Valley

2008 Bodegas RE Lomajes de Viña Roja Carignan, Maule Valley

Product: 24224
Place a bid
 
2008 Bodegas RE Lomajes de Viña Roja Carignan, Maule Valley

Buying options

You can place a bid for this wine on BBX
Place a bid
Sorry, Out of stock

Description

This is a beautiful, rounded wine. Made from 100% Carignan, it exudes fresh red and black fruit with a delicious perfume, hinting at violets. The palate is concentrated and long with a toasty note coming through on the finish. It is extremely well made with melting tannins and delicious freshness.

Viña Roja is the name of the vineyard holdings of the famous (in Chile) Soc. Agrícola Santa Elena de Loncomilla in the Maule Valley. The vineyards were bought by the Morande family in 2000 with the objective of bringing life back into the old Carignan vines. Five years later, the project was complete and today these vines are some of the oldest in the area, dry farmed in a sustainable manner. They are over 70 years old, produce tiny quantities of grapes and are considered a real treasure of Chilean viticultural heritage.
Catriona Felstead MW - New World Buyer

wine at a glance

Delivery and quality guarantee

About this WINE

Bodegas RE

Bodegas RE

Bodegas RE is pushing the boundaries in Chile. This is a new, constantly evolving project with ‘experiments’ being worked on every year and wines being kept back until they are ready.  RE refers to the winery’s concept of REcreating, REinventing, REdiscovering…
 
It was set up in 2012 by Casablancan pioneer Pablo Morande and his son (also Pablo). The Morande family are very well known throughout Chile: the young Pablo is a 9th generation winemaker and, despite  Pablo Senior having  made a name for himself in the early 1980s in Casablanca (with Morande and Concha y Toro), their family roots have been established firmly in the Maule valley since the early 1800’s.
 
Maule is a hot area with a brightness that is apparent, however due to the short ripening period the wines manage to retain a high acidity. During the summer with temperatures reaching 36 degrees, special attention is required when picking.  Its red clay soils are largely rain fed with no irrigation, and unlike Casablanca, they are not affected by frost. The vineyards are planted on rolling hills at around 200m altitude, producing low yields of around 6-8 tonnes.
 
Bodegas RE’s winery and significant vineyard holdings are located in Casablanca, but they also have 72 ha of vines 450km away in Loncomilla in the Maule Valley. The winery is impressive with old terracotta amphorae of different sizes and ages, 12, 000 litre cement tanks coated on the outside with clay to make them look like large amphorae, as well as Italian ‘botti’ and American barriques… all highlighting the experimental nature of what is happening here.
 
These wines highlight the huge potential of the Maule Valley and the bodega manages to achieve an exciting balance of traditional and new practices. A wide variety of grape varieties are planted and dry farming is adopted, giving their old Carignan vines (70 years +) a refinement but a concentration on the mid-palate that some Carignans lack.  

Find out more
Carignan

Carignan

Carignan, as its name suggests, is presumably of Spanish in origin, from around the town of Carineña west of Priorat in the province of Aragon.

Carignan, also known as Carginano in Italy and Cariñena or Mazeulo in Spain, is one of the most widely-planted red grapes in France. Planting became widespread in France during the 1960s, when Algeria gained its independence and was no longer an inexpensive source of red grapes. Languedoc-Rousillon (Cotes du Roussillon, Corbières, Saint Chinian) is the bastion of Carignan in France, and it is also grown Provence, although it now gradually being replaced with more complex and characterful varieties such as Syrah and Grenache.

The berries are blue-black, with fairly thick, astringent skins.Carignan buds and ripens quite late, so it is resistant to spring frosts, but requires a long ripening season and warm climate. It is a vigorous grape, which can result a wine of dull character.

Carignan is useful for adding intense colour, acidity, and fleshy tannins to the archetypal Southern French blends of Syrah, Grenache and Cinsault. Few select growers have managed to produce interesting, distinctive wines from this grape by carefully limiting the vine vigour and the yields.

Old Carignan vines (over 50 years) on a combination of low yields and suitable terroir can produce magnificently concentrated and characterful wine. The best expressions can be found in Priorat.

Find out more