Louis-Antoine Luyt 'El Mismo' Pais

Region: Maule Valley < Chile

Grapes: País (aka Mission)

Vineyard/Cellar Stats: Organic farming (uncertified), dry-farmed, 200-
year-old own-rooted vines on sandy soil with decomposing granite;
partly whole clusters and partly destemmed, carbonic maceration for 8
days, then pressing and fermentations; bottled unfined/unfiltered with
no added SO2; 11.5% ABV

Winemaker: Luis-Antoine Luyt

Burgundy native Louis-Antoine Luyt has become an important voice in
the fight for independent, terroir-driven winemaking in Chile. In a
country where wine production is run almost entirely by huge
industrial wineries, Luyt has managed to source fruit and rent vines
from independent farmers throughout the Maule Valley. He insists on
dry farming, horse plowing, organic viticulture and native
yeast/intervention free winemaking, and makes the only line of Chilean
wines following the European model of using the same varietal to
highlight different terroirs. Each bottling of his Pais (the grape
also known as Mission, not generally used to make quality wine) is
named after a specific vineyard parcel or “lieu-dit”, each with its
own soil composition, exposition, elevation and micro-climates. Chile
escaped phylloxera, so the vines are very old and still on their
original rootstock.

This is Luis-Antoine's Chilean take on Beaujolais Nouveau - some
carbonic, a quick press and fermentation, then bottled in a 1 liter
happy jug for early enjoyment.  Being from the Maule Valley, where
soils are always some degree of volcanic origin, there is of course a
flinty, rocky backbone (which you also get on the nose).  But the
overall package is light and frothy, bright, slightly tart red fruit,
soft tannins, a nice savory herb thing (sage maybe?), that makes it a
perfect all-around chillable red for the gatherings of fall, including
Thanksgiving.