Garage Wine Co. Portezuelo Vineyard Carignan Field Blend 2015

One of my first personal interactions with a Chilean winemaker was with Derek Mossman–incidentally, not a Chilean, but a winemaker in Chile. This erudite Canadian is one of the public faces of Garage Wine Company, a collective that’s done some incredible things around the Chilean wine universe. They’ve supported independent winemakers and growers, started organizations, and worked to raise the profile of artisanal Chilean wine across the world.

MOVI, or The Independent Winemakers Movement, is one of Derek and Garage Wine Co.’s contributions to the Chilean wine scene. It represents a coalition of like-minded small producers from across Chile. Their emphasis is on small production wines that are farmed sustainably and presented with a minimum of artifice. Garage Wine Co. was a founding member, and today MOVI comprises a brain trust of some of the most compelling and quality producers in Chile.

Garage bottles a lot of different wines. They do single-vineyard field blends, big wines, small wines, and wines reflecting a wide range of interesting Chilean grapes, from Carmenère all the way to Mourvèdre, Grenache and Cinsault. This wine is a field blend that is based almost entirely on the Carignan grape. Let it be said that I am not usually a fan of Carignan. It’s frequently coarse and can have a certain prickliness to it that I don’t find appetizing. 

This is the Portezuelo vineyard Carignan. It’s in the Secano Interior region of the Maule Valley, which contains some of Chile’s oldest vines. Many of the vineyards were planted 70-100 or more years ago. In those days, you would plant a variety of grapes all over the place, instead of a monoculture like we often see today. It makes for a more complex blend in the end, and in this wine we have the sometimes shrill Carignan getting the benefit of some Mourvèdre and Cinsault as choir partners.

This wine is a departure from most tart and impenetrable Carignans. Derek and team have done wonders with this field blend, creating something that is at once rich, firm, and refreshing. Cracked black peppercorn and sage jump out at you, followed by bing cherry, smoked plums and dried mint. A note of Chinese five spice undergirds the fresh fruit and herbs, keeping things interesting. I love this wine with meaty or vegetal dishes (or both), which is why we wanted to highlight Pilar’s Chard and Chorizo dish, which is a phenomenally savory flavor bomb.