Garage Wine Co., 2018 Las Higueras Vineyard Cabernet Franc, Maule, Chile
When Garage Wine Co was launched in 2003 by husband and wife team Derek Mossmann-Knapp and Pilar Miranda, they set out to work with and vinify small parcels from micro terroirs across central Chile and they sought to tell a different story about Chilean wine. Their beginnings were quite literally making wine in the couple's garage, sourcing from usually 1-2ha parcels of vines from very old, and in some cases abandoned vineyards across the regions of Maipo, Maule and Itata.
They work with several grape varieties, including old vine País and Carignan, and, of course, Chile's most important French variety, Cabernet Sauvignon, but slowly over the last decade Cabernet Franc has become a bit of a calling card for the estate. The Las Higueras bottling is one of two single-vineyard, single-varietal Cabernet Francs that Garage makes.
Cabernet Franc in Chile remains a very small piece of the over all picture. There are approximately 1685ha of Cabernet Franc planted, which is a drop in the bucket compared to over 40,000ha of Cabernet Sauvignon planted, but in 1997 there was only 64ha of Cabernet Franc in the ground, so plantings have increased significantly over the last 30 years.
Diving into the Las Higueras Vineyard Cabernet Franc, this is coming from the region of Maule, which is one of five regions within Chile's Central Valley, which is the heartland of Chile's wine production, representing 76% of vineyards. Of this, Maule accounts for about 1/3 of this vineyard area, and about 1/4 of the production, making it the largest region in Chile's Central Valley.
Maule has an interesting story. Author Amanda Barnes refers to Maule as the grassroots region in the Central Valley with humble, old school farming being at the core of this region's identity. These origins, as well as the favourable Mediterranean climate with more continental influences and double the amount of rainfall compared Maipo and Cachapoal, led to the influx of plantings in Maule in the late 18th and into the 19th centuries, with European varieties making their way to the region towards the end of the 19th century as phylloxera was taking hold in Europe. Many of the vineyards planted with French varieties were planted as mixed field blends, typically dry-farmed because of the higher rainfall the region experiences. Overtime, with these humble origins and the lack of foreign investment as seen in the regions closer to Santiago, Maule became synonymous with bulk wine production, which continued for the better part of the 20th century, and still remains a large part of what the region is all about today.
However, there is a quiet renaissance happening in parts of Maule, and at the core of this renewed interest in the region are these very old vineyards. Producers like Garage Wine Co and others have begun working with these once abandoned vineyards, seeing the value that these old, dry-farmed vines bring to the table, and they work with the local farmers, paying fair wages and a premium for the fruit, and focus on making small production, high-quality wines with a special story.
So what does the growing environment look like in Maule? As is the case across Chile as a whole, the climate of a given region or sub-region is dictated more by its proximity to the Pacific Ocean in the west or the Andes in the east, rather than it's latitude, which is why it is more common to see the terms "Costa" meaning coast, or "Entre Cordillleras" or "Andes" on a label, as a better indication as to where the grapes are coming from and the climatic conditions that area experiences, as opposed to the name of a given sub-region.
And this is certainly the case with Maule. Maule is a huge region, stretching over 100km wide and nearly 150km from north to south, and while the region can be divided into 3 main sub-regions, Claro Valley, Loncomilla Valley, and Tutuvén Valley, the climate is best articulated with regards to each region's proximity to the Pacific or the Andes. With Tutuvén being part of the Maule Costa, the Claro Valley stretching across all three zones, and the Loncomilla Valley with vineyards in the Entre Cordilleras and the Andes zone.
This wine is coming from the Loncomilla Valley, who's borders can be loosely defined by the Purapel River to the west and the Andes Mountains in the east, with the Maule River defining northern border of where Loncomilla meets the Claro Valley, and the vineyards in the Entre Cordilleras are generally warmer than those in the Andes zone.
The Las Higueras Vineyard is located in the Andes zone, just north of the Achibueno River, and west of the town of Linares. The elevation is about 165m above sea level, in the lower foothills of the Andes, giving the vineyard the benefit of a bit of elevation and the cool air that descends form the Andes at night. This vineyard has about 9 hectares of Cabernet Franc, which the Garage Wine Co team of farms entirely, but only about a 2ha portion goes into this cuvée. The soils here are alluvial origin, with a mix of clay and round river stones, followed by a sub-soil that is a bit more sandy with more stones.
This 2ha portion that goes into this bottling is coming from a specific block of own-rooted, pre-phylloxera vines that are nearly 120 years old. This vineyard was more or less abandoned by the previous owner, and this block used to be trellised, but the posts and wires had fell into disrepair, so rather than fixing the trellis, they opted to return the vines to nature, so to speak, that is to say they are now old bush vines that are dry-farmed using organic practices.
Derek shared with me an interesting little factoid about this block. Clearly something very special about this block of Cabernet Franc, as these 9 hectares were part of a larger vineyard of over 100ha, all of which was pulled up about 25 years ago, except for this block of Cabernet Franc. They've been working with this block since 2013, and uniquely, the fruit from this site consistently achieves phenolic maturity at a lower degree of alcohol, around 13%.
From a winemaking perspective, the fruit for the wine is hand-harvested, and is mostly destemmed and crushed. Once the fruit is in the fermenter, they will do some light punch downs to extract some juice, and they will add back in the most lignified stems from the bunches, about 20% to the tank. Fermentation is with indigenous yeast and they are using a large oval, stainless steel tank, and Derek said that little cap management techniques are required for this cuvée, the post-fermentation maceration is about 10 days. Aging takes place for around 18 months in 3rd use or older French oak barrels.
Key wine wine facts below:
Producer: Garage Wine Co.
Region: Maule, Central Valley
Sub-Region: Loncomilla Valley (Andes)
Vineyard: Las Higueras Vineyard
Soils: Alluvial clay mix with large, round river stones, more sandy subsoil with more stones
Alcohol: 12.8%
