Vinos Gonzalez Bastias Pais en Tinaja 2020

Dried Cranberry, Red Cherry, Dried Hibiscus, Leather, Earth, Cayenne Pepper

Over a century before the apocryphal story of the “First Thanksgiving,” the Empire of Spain had already staked its claim on much of South America, including what is now Chile. Much as in other parts of New Spain, religion was an important factor in the social life of the colony, and a large amount of wine was needed for church services. This sacramental wine was made from the Listan Negro grape, native to the Canary Islands, which in Chile is known as Pais. Hundreds of years later, the Chilean wine industry looks very different but some winemakers still seek out older-vine examples of Pais, revitalizing the five-century history of this variety.

In Chile’s remote Maule Valley, some of the oldest surviving vines on the planet are cultivated by Gonzalez Bastias. This small, biodynamic winery takes the term “old-fashioned” to a new level. Not only is everything done by hand in the vineyard, but in the cellar as well! From their 200-year-old Pais vines, grown without any pesticides or irrigation, the fruit is hand harvested and brought to the winery, where pressing occurs using traditional zaranda (a flexible mat of woven reeds that naturally extracts the juice). The wine then ferments in large clay amphorae, locally known as tinaja, the same vessels that the Spanish used so many years ago. After a year in these homemade amphorae, the wine is then bottled unfiltered. At every step in the process, environmental consciousness is at the forefront. A truly “natural” wine.