Garage Wine Co, 2017 Pirque Vineyard, Cabernet Franc, Pirque D.O., Alto Maipo, Maipo, Chile
Cab Franc du Jour #73
Garage Wine Co quite literally began in the garage of husband-and-wife team Derek Mossmann-Knapp and Pilar Miranda in 2003. Their goal was to work with and vinify small parcels from distinct micro terroirs across central Chile, a concept that was relatively revolutionary in Chilean wine at the time and remains distinctive today. In a country whose industry is largely driven by value-positioned wines at one end and a handful of icon bottles at the other, Derek and Pilar sought to establish the core of their range in the middle: reviving old and in some cases virtually abandoned vineyards through sustainable and regenerative viticultural practices, paying fair wages to vineyard workers, and telling a different story about wine and viticulture in Chile.
Working typically with 1 to 2-hectare parcels across different vineyards in Maipo, Maule, and Itata, they produce wines from several varieties, including old-vine País and Carignan alongside Chile’s most important French variety, Cabernet Sauvignon. Over the last decade, Cabernet Franc has become something of a calling card for the estate, and this is now one of two single-vineyard, single-varietal Cabernet Francs in the Garage Wine Co range.
Cabernet Franc in Chile
There are approximately 1,685ha of Cabernet Franc planted in Chile, making it the 15th most planted grape variety and a modest figure against the over 40,000ha of Cabernet Sauvignon. But in 1997 there were only 64 hectares in the ground, meaning plantings have increased by around 2,500% over two decades. Granted, from a very small base, but for anyone with a passion for the variety, the trajectory is genuinely encouraging.
Maipo and Alto Maipo
Today’s wine takes us to Maipo, the smallest of the five regions within Chile’s Central Valley, which is the heartland of the country’s wine production, representing 76% of vineyard area and 80% of total output. Maipo divides into three broad zones: Alto Maipo to the east, Central Maipo, and Western Maipo.
The wine comes from the Alto Maipo, and more specifically the sub-region of Pirque, one of four recognized micro-terroirs within the Alto Maipo. We are less than 20km southeast of Santiago and roughly 100km inland from the Pacific Ocean, in the higher-altitude foothills of the Andes. The Pirque sub-region spans around 960 hectares at elevations ranging from roughly 500 to 1,000m above sea level, with a more continental climate than the coastal zones.
The Vineyard
The specific site sits at around 600m above sea level, where the cooling influence of altitude and the wide diurnal range between warm days and cool nights help to slow ripening and preserve freshness. An additional moderating factor is the near-constant cooling breezes that descend from the Andes and funnel along the Maipo River valley.
The soils have been studied by terroir specialist Pedro Parra. They are of alluvial origin, a clay-silt mix, with an ancient watercourse, a tributary of the Río Clarillo, having left behind a layer of river stones and gravels beginning at around 50 to 90cm depth. The wine is sourced from a 1-hectare parcel of own-rooted vines of around 35 years of age.
In the Cellar
The fruit is hand-harvested and destemmed, with around 5 to 10% of stems added back into the fermentation. Derek explains that this stem inclusion adds tension to the finished wine without the confected fruit characters that can result from whole-cluster or carbonic maceration approaches. Fermentation takes place with indigenous yeast in small open-top fermenters, with manual punchdowns during active fermentation and a post-fermentation maceration of approximately 10 days. The wine then ages for around 18 months in older oak barrels.
Wine Details
Producer: Garage Wine Co
Region: Central Valley
Region: Maipo
Sub-region: Alto Maipo
DO: Pirque D.O.
Soils: alluvial clay-loam with river stones/pebbles starting 50-90cm deep
Alcohol: 14.0%