2013 Louis-Antoine Luyt, Carignan “Cuvee Mathilde” Truquilemu Tinto Chileno, Sin Riego-Rio Reloca, Legno Duro, Chile.
This natural wine from Chile is crafted from old vines by the talented Louis-Antoine Luyt, after a handful of vintages under his belt the Frenchman has changed the way we look at Chilean wine, and his latest releases are easily his best and most expressive efforts to date. Luyt’s use of very old vines, and use of non Bordeaux varietals, except for a Carmenere cuvee, set his wines apart, especially his Pais, the mission grape that comes from vines closer to 300 years old than a hundred years old, and his championing of Carignan, a Rhone and Languedoc grape most common in Corbieres. The new Carignan, the 2013 Cuvee Mathilde is really impressive with exotic fruit, bursting energy and complex layers of flavors, this red has massive appeal and is wonderfully pleasing. This all natural, non solute and no new wood Carignan is richly flavored with blackberry, boysenberry, plum, strawberry and tangy cherry and currant notes along with spicy cinnamon, minty herbs, pepper, lavender and salted black licorice. Luyt spent time with Marcel Lapierre, one of the first masters of low and no sulphur wines in Morgon Beaujolais, and you can feel that in his wines, in particular this gorgeous and stylish, I highly recommend exploring this and the new generation of Chilean wines that are starting to gain traction in the market place, there are some really exciting times ahead for Chile. Drink this intriguing old vine Carignan over the next few years, best from 2015 to 2018.
($22 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive