Gonzáles Bastías País en Tinaja 2020

“as if you put fresh raspberries and their stems in a blender.”

Jackson’s Notes: The Gonzáles Bastías vineyard was planted around the year 1800, making these vines more than 200 years old–older than most vineyards in the “old world.” The País in this vineyard and many other rural locales was long made into cheap, bitter, gluggable country wine. It’s only in the last few decades that visionary winemakers have seen the gold that’s been right under their feet all along. The País that’s being made these days is polished and delicious, but still has a wonderfully rustic edge to it.

Gonzáles Bastías is located in the southern end of Chile’s massive Valle Central, in the region of Maule. It’s a rural and wild landscape dotted with lots of small farms separated by dry scrubland. You have to paddle a canoe across the Maule river to arrive at the winery. The Maule river helps air movement in what is otherwise a hot, dry, inland climate.

José Luis Gomez Bastías and his partner Daniela Lorenzo farm the oldest continually-tended parcel of País grapes in the world. It’s only 4 small hectares, but since they do nearly everything by hand, it’s a lot of work. What kind of work? Well, it’s picking the grapes by hand. It’s carrying them to the winery straight from the vineyard. It’s pressing the grapes by hand through wooden reed slats to extract their juice with just the right balance of subtle bitterness and fruit.

This País is a shimmering ruby-purple color in the glass, and gives off notes of crushed fruit in the glass, as if you put fresh raspberries and their stems in a blender. That wonderful stemmy green note adds to the wine’s complexity, and when it hits your palate, becomes part of the whole picture. Woodsy, piquant tannins and brilliant acidity make this wine something you’ll want to come back for a second, third and fourth sip of.