At the southern end of the Bio Bio Valley in Chile, Roberto Henriquez works his 200 year old vines with the utmost care. Oh by the way, he’s also the viticulturist people call when they’re having trouble. Henriquez has caused the Chilean wine scene to explode with new and dedicated young farmers willing to do the work. Roberto has turned heads with his expressions of Pais, a native grape to this region. This Moscatel Rosado Rose is a lo-fi rose that will blow you away. If you have to have one magnum on the shelf this year, THIS is the one. Roberto Henriquez leaves it longer on its skins than his other wines. If there is a wine that convinced me that Roberto is doing something uniquely exciting in Itata and Bío Bío, this is the wine. Delicate herbal aromatics mingle with white peach, Bosc pear, salt and stone on the nose, while the finely tuned palate shows bright acidity and similar fruit notes with white strawberries and fennel. But what really sticks with me is the minerality here – just explosive granitic power: somehow simultaneously cool and spicy, it endures on the palate long after wine is gone. This magnum bottling is 100% Moscatel Rosado from Itata. *Natural and Organic
