Clos des Fous Cauquenina Itata Valley 2017

Clos des Fous Cauquenina Itata Valley 

Region: Itata Valley, Southern Region, Chile

Vintage: 2020

Bottle size: 75cl

Grape: 30% Pais 25% Carignan 22% Syrah 15% Malbec 8% Carmenere

ABV: 14%

This wine is deep ruby red in colour with violet highlights. On the nose, it has black and red fruit aromas, predominately cherry and raspberry. The complex nose also has floral notes of chamomile and tea leaves. A touch of minerality comes through on the palate with notes of graphite and earth. The wine is generous and silky with very fine tannins and excellent acidity which enhance Cauquenina's liveliness and balance.

Clos des Fous has 19 hectares of vineyards in total, which is supplemented by fruit from selected growers. Pedro Parra's key aim was to move plantings away from the fertile plains and up the slopes into the Andean and Coastal ranges, where the rockier soils result in lower vine vigour and deeper roots, which he believes gives better balance and more finesse to the wines. Cauquenina means “girl from cauquenes”. This blend comes from dry-farmed old vines, planted on ancient red granite slopes.

The name ‘Clos des Fous’ is an ode to the 12 years that both Pedro and François spent studying and working in Burgundy, as well as to what their peers described as their ‘craziness’ in crossing the traditional Chilean vineyard boundaries to source grapes from those in the more extreme conditions further south and east.

http://www.closdesfous.com