So you've got your head round the new Chilean cool-climate regions: Leyda, San Antonio, Elqui, Limari. Here's another for you – coastal Colchagua. And this Sauvignon Blanc is the first wine to be released from this new region, in vineyards recently planted at Paredones, just six kilometres from the sea.
It's a startling wine, with amazing freshness and precision. It's fully ripe (the flavour signature isn't methoxypyrazine), but it's stunningly pure and intense. Could this be Chile's 'Cloudy Bay'? A Sauvignon so distinctive and arresting that it becomes a bit of an icon?
Casa Silva 'Cool Coast' Sauvignon Blanc 2009 - Colchagua, Chile - 13.5% alcohol
“Aromatic, fresh, pure, linear nose showing grapefruit and mineral characters. Almost alarmingly pure and transparent, with a hint of saline. The palate is intense and precise, with high acidity and dense grapefruit and lemon character, as well as some brine notes and piercing minerality. It's incredibly fresh yet shows no rough edges, avoiding austerity yet not tending towards fatness or blowsiness at all. I love it. 92/100”