2023 Estate Chardonnay, De Martino

Chile – 2023

13% ABV

Tasting Note

Tasting Note: Fresh aromas of ripe citrus fruit and peaches, along with a smooth palate with medium body.

Food Matching: Fresh garden salads, various types of seafood and light cheeses.

  Vineyard

Vineyard: De Martino are a family estate of Italian heritage and are heralded as being somewhat the pioneers of Chilean wine production. Whilst they have a multitude of accolades, they are renownded for being the first to identify, bottle and export a varietal Carmenere from Chile and also for changing the Chilean wine scene in 2011 when their winemaker, the revered Marcel Retamal, decided that wines should be made completely differently to avoid the over extracted, high alcohol, oaky examples available on the market.

To this end, he stated that grapes would be picked earlier, all oenological products such as commercial yeasts, enzymes, tannins would be stopped in favour of spontaneous ferment and indigenous yeasts and finally that zero new oak would be used as to not mask the great fruit they could produce. Needless to say that others soon followed suit! Add to this the fact that they have been voted “winery of the year” on three separate occasions, they were Chile’s first Carbon Neutral Winery, their wines are highly awarded by all critics and journalists (incl. getting top spot in Robert Parkers Chile review) and they continue to push boundaries by elaborating wines with different varietals and different terroirs, they are without doubt the top estate in Chile right now. Following 350 separate vineyard trials, they now make wine from Maipo, Maule, Cachapoal, Casablanca, Traiguen, Itata and Limari using everything from Cabernet and Chardonnay to San Francisco and Pais with the focus being primarily on Terroir. The real perk of De Martino is that they have everything from great value varietals, to highly polished single estate wines to incredibly unique and funky field blends.

Vinification: The grapes were destemmed and pressed gently to avoid extracting bitter phenols. The juice was left to settle and then put into stainless steel vats where the alcoholic fermentation took place with natural yeasts at temperatures ranging between 16-20°C. Malolactic fermentation was blocked and the wine aged over its fine lees for 6 months.