Viña Echeverría 2022 Merlot Reserva

£7.85
Tasting notes
Intense aromas of cassis and red fruit on the nose with a hint of cedar. Soft mouthfeel and bright fruit on the palate. An easy-drinking and juicy wine with a long fruity finish. Pairs well with roasted vegetables and tomato based Italian dishes. Also, cold meats, casseroles and roast chicken.

Why we recommend this wine
For easy drinking affordable wines it is hard to beat those from South America and this Chilean Merlot is a fine example.

The wine
Primarily Merlot with 5% Carménère grapes to add rich fruit flavours. Hand-picked into small crates and then to the estate winery for sorting and then fermentation in stainless steel tanks at 25-28°C controlled temperature for 8 days. It undergoes malolactic fermentation and aging in used French oak barrels for 4-5 months to add complexity and to achieve softer tannins. But most interesting is that the Merlot grapes come from ungrafted selected clones of pre-phylloxera French rootstock,that is, they are pure Merlot.

The wine estate
The Echeverría family came to Chile in the 1750s, from a little town in the Basque region of Spain. They established agricultural properties in the north of Santiago, where they planted vineyards, among other crops. Some 200 years later in 1930, Roger Piffre de Vauban, a French Engineer from Montpellier, travelled to Chile to the Curicó Valley, some 200km south of the capital Santiago. The children of the families married and took over the vineyards where they went through decades of “...toil, tears and sweat” to finally establish a winery of reputation.

Viña Echeverría vineyards are located in the Curicó Valley, at the 35th parallel south, and the rows are planted in an east-westerly direction to potentiate the sun’s exposure. They work with a model of micro viticulture, which means that each plot, no more than half a hectare, is identified according to its terroir and microclimate and planted, pruned, irrigated and harvested accordingly, resulting in grapes of optimum quality and flavor. They have been awarded Sustainable status by the Wines of Chile Organization which focuses on working in harmony with the environment, the earth and its people.
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Food and wine
With plenty of fruit and soft tannins it handles rich food and spices well, and also hard cheeses. Also see our guide to pairing food and wine here.

Did you know?
Curicó Valley is planted with more grape varieties than anywhere else in Chile, but the quality of the wines do not match some other areas in Chile. Nevertheless, the valley is one of Chile's workhorse regions and its output is consistent and reliable.