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A 2019 Visit to Matassa's New House and Vines
This visit with Tom Lubbe took place in June, 2019
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The Chile Chronicles, Part 2: Truquilemu and Quenehuao!
After settling in- without jet-lag for once!- we were ready to see some vines! Santiago is about four hours away from where LA is based in the
If you're unfamiliar with Chile's geography, it's a uniquely laid out country. Bordering Peru, Bolivia and Argentina, it is extremely long and narrow.
LA's work focuses on three regions: the
The first wine LA ever made was some
"He brought me to his office to have a "serious" talk about the need to
LA bought the finished wine back from this winery, and these were to be the first two Clos Ouvert wines (now defunct, Clos Ouvert was Louis-Antoine's first foray in Chilean wine).
Around this point in the drive, we drove past the vineyards of Don Francisco, the world famous host of Sabado Gigante.
Seriously, google Don Francisco wine.
As the long drive whirled along, LA mentioned that the wood industry, specifically pine trees, is a huge part of Chile's economy. Used for cellulose and paper, the increased demand and resulting specialization has meant that a huge amount of the country's native woods were torn out to make way for these conifers. Pay attention to the pictures in the upcoming recaps (including the one at the start of this post), and you'll notice that pine trees are intricately tied to Chilean scenery.
"It's green everywhere and blends into the scenery so you don't notice as much, but these are NOT the native trees of Chile! To me, this is the biggest environmental disaster this country faces."
With lunch time approaching, we stopped by one of LA's favorite restaurants, Las Brisas de Loncomilla.
The first thing I noticed was at least five dogs just hanging around outside.
My favorite was this little creature.
Naturally, I had to give her a nice belly-rub to prove it.
Shortly after sitting down, a man named Walter (who works with local farmers) dropped three
It might strike you as unorthodox, but keep in mind that the
The three liter
After lunch, it was time to visit our first vineyard! We set things off at Truqilemu, the parcel where LA buys his
Upon arrival, we were gruffly greeted by Walter Orillana, the owner of the vines.
I'm not really sure why he needed his rifle, but he held on to it the entire time of our visit. Which is probably why I never got that close to him when taking his picture.
Truquilemu is the flattest vineyard LA works with. The vines vary in age, but he sources from those that are between 70 and 80 years old.
The soils are composed of
LA explained that
All in all, Waldo might have uttered 10 words the entire time we were there. But LA reassured me that his other suppliers are much friendlier.
"Waldo is the least sympathetic guy I work with: he never talks, always wants to angle business and is as friendly as a prison cell. But he works well and the fruit is beautiful."
From Truquilemu, we set off to Quenehuao, the site that produces "País di Quenehuao".
For those unfamiliar with the "País de..." line, LA only makes them from
Luyt is the only person making
But LA never really believed what others told him:
"The conquistadores were well educated and intentioned in their plantings. You had clergy members observing and bringing those observations back to Spain in order to make
Anyhow onto the Quenehuao visit!
The vineyards we were about to visit were owned by Luis Gardeweg, an eccentric engineer who passed away last year. Before visiting the vines, we checked a still functional wool factory from parts he brought back from Europe in the 1950's and 1960's.
This is where LA gets a lot of his sweet sweaters. On to the vines!
Quenehuao's vines are grown on red
The vines are approximately 250 years old.
"There are no official records for the age of the vines, but you can make a fairly accurate estimate by examining the woods."
When I asked why some vines were much bigger than others, LA elaborated:
"The vines aren't all huge because when a wood becomes too gnarly, underproductive or broken, you let a new shoot grow from the bottom and eventually trim or snap off the old wood. Think of it as cutting your hair: it's the same
Rabbit shit is everywhere, serving as a natural fertilizer.
Quenehuao is name of the area, but for the wine LA is referring to the hill we visited, characterised by
"When Marcel (Lapierre) came to visit, this was the vineyard that confirmed to him that I was onto something special out here."
If you'd read the interview I linked to earlier, you would know that LA befriended Mathieu Lapierre in
All this talking about Marcel got LA into zen mode next to a particularly beautiful vine.
This inspired Keven Clancy, who also got in the mix.
The spirit was so strong that even I got into the mix.
"The vines are so healthy here. The only product they've ever been exposed to is a minuscule amount of
Luyt has been harvesting fruit from Quenehuao's
On our way out from the property, Miguel and Gringa made sure we were well on our way.
From Quenehuao, we drove to
Naw, just kidding. Instead we had some Luyt rarities like this 2008
And a 2008 Clos Ouvert, the first wine we ever imported from Luyt!
It was a hell of a first day!
A la proxima por la parte 3!