Alice L'Estrange 2021 VIVIR LEJOS CINSAULT+CAB SAUV 1500ml

Vineyard: 50% Cinsault from Guarilihue and 50% Cabernet Sauvignon from Rahuil, Itata. Both sites are transitioning away from chemical inputs. 

50% Cinsault (saignée at 9.5% alc) 50% Cab Sauv (whole berry ferment picked at 13% alc)

Vivir lejos = to live far away. It’s that falling-in-space feeling you have when you’re not sure where you’re supposed to be. Cab and Cinsault shouldn't be in Itata, and neither should I.

Cinsault is grown by Pepe in Guarilihue, almost chemical-free (is now but wasn’t then). Cab was grown by my mate Tito with the promise he’d quit the drugs but there’s no one to do manual labour anymore so that didn’t happen. 

The wine is a great red wine, the reddest I made in 2021. It’s still light but with yum depth of flavour. Zero adds or interventions but super solid, a crowd-pleaser. Barrel aged but you don’t see it much. Fruit forward but there’s nothing ripe or super fruity about it, it’s quite poised, with very gentle soft tannins.

Itata is normally too cold to ripen cab sauv, so I was very careful to not work the ferment at all and to keep tannin extraction to a minimum. The saignée Cinsault proves the juiciness and the fresh red fruits and ultimately makes it a very drinkable and not at all funky wine.