It’s not often in this house that every drop is drained from a bottle sent as a tasting sample. This happens even more rarely when the bottle contains Sauvignon Blanc, not one of my favourite grape varieties (although I do have a phalanx of friends who will drink anything labelled Marlborough Sauvignon). But such is the case with this very gorgeous Chilean Sauvignon – which doesn’t even come from Casablanca or San Antonio, supposedly the Sauvignon terroirs of the long, thin country.
Casa Lapostolle is of course much better known for its red wines, particularly its Rolland-influenced Merlots and Carmenères from Apalta, and for its connection with the family behind Grand Marnier liqueur. I was already impressed by my visit to the winery a few years back but they are clearly not sitting on their laurels. The technical background to this particular wine is reproduced below, as written by the winery itself. Let me just tell you that the wine is closer to a really top class California Sauvignon Blanc than anything as grassy as a New Zealand Sauvignon or as mineral and severe as a Loire Sauvignon. I enjoyed its tropical fruit flavours and figgy richness that was beautifully balanced by fine, racy acidity. The wine is just bursting with fruit with just the merest hint of minerality on top of a canned grapefruit flavour – much, much more delicious than it may sound. It’s easy to drink this without food. I know because I did it. But I could imagine it with fat, juicy prawns sautéed in garlic, or with spaghetti with chillies, garlic and oil.
Here’s the bumpf. Requinoia is on the east of the Cachapoal Valley about 30 miles north of the Casa Lapostolle winery. Kuras is an old Indian word for the gravels that predominate there apparently.
Casa Lapostolle uses only premium quality fruit to produce its Sauvignon Blanc, achieved through the careful management of each individual vine—the result of several years experimental research work in Las Kuras [vineyard in Requinoia] which has included numerous practical trials with irrigation, canopy management, yields and harvesting techniques. In the winery, Casa Lapostolle has recently engaged the expertise of Frenchman Jacques Bégarie, formerly Directeur Technique for Vins Dourthe, of the leading Bordeaux negociant CVBG, where he managed 550 hectares of vineyards and the company’s seven Châteaux. Bégarie and the winemaking team work closely with renowned oenologist Michel Rolland, who consults exclusively for Casa Lapostolle in Chile.
The 2004 vintage was drier and hotter than usual with just 320mm of the expected (average) 500mm rainfall measured in Requinoa. Careful canopy management and judicious irrigation resulted in intensely aromatic fruit with good acidity. The fruit was hand-harvested using small 15kg baskets, then bunches were subject to hand sorting to remove any leaves or undesirable berries from bunches before de-stemming and crushing. (This bunch sorting procedure requires 10 dedicated workers to sort through approximately 60 tons of fruit per day). The selected fruit was then de-stemmed, crushed and fermented at low temperature for 3-4 weeks in stainless steel. The wine was aged on its lees for 4 months to add complexity and then blended prior to bottling. The addition of 10% Semillon to the final blend rounds the middle palate and results in a sumptuous silky texture in the wine.
In the UK the wine is available at around £6.49 from www.barrelsandbottles.co.uk, www.everywine.co.uk, Bentalls, Goedhuis, Waler Hicks, Hoults, Lay & Wheeler, Partridges, Thos Peatling, Portland Wine of Cheshire and Selfridges.
Many US retailers are cited by www.winesearcher.com with prices from $6.99 at Astor of NY. Swiss and German outlets are also cited, but at higher prices.