2017 Elqui Carmenere-Syrah-Malbec, Elqui Valley, Chile

Tasting Notes

Deep and dark almost creamy nose gives way to black currant, meat, earth, and spicy minerals from the Ancient Elqui River bed. Rich and mouth-filling with an incredible amount of suave creamy fine-grained tannins. Young and brooding but with an incredibly smooth and velvety approach. Lingering spice and fruit blends with the more mineral-laden flavors of the Micro Terroir of the Elqui Valley. Broad, big, and bold but sophisticatedly pleasing. If you want value for money this is where it’s at!

Most of the Carmenere component in this wine comes from the nearly impossible-to-farm El Tambo Vineyard which is one of the more intense vineyard sites you’ll find in Chile. Carmenere grapes in El Tambo are harvested in mid-June and are literally the last wine grapes harvested in all of Chile, picked after all of the leaves have fallen to the ground. Steffan calls this his favorite site for Carmenere Chile and he feels lucky to own it.

Most of the Malbec in the blend comes from the stunningly beautiful Peralillo Vineyard which sits on a moderate slope just below the tallest mountain in the region. These own-rooted vines were massal selections from a now retired farmer owner/winemaker Steffan Jorgensen met in Maipo some years back. This warm site brings a ripeness and a floral component that you just don’t see from other sites planted Malbec in Chile.

Syrah fruit from the cool climate Maiten Vineyard keeps things elegant – it is a rocky, sandy, ancient riverbed sitting 25 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean.

Specs

• Varietal: 46% Carmenere, 44% Syrah, 10% Malbec
• Appellation: Elqui Valley, Chile
• Elaboration: Very long maturation period in the vineyards due to very cool nights which makes for an oscillation (day/night swings) of nearly 40F. Harvest started April 4th, 2013 and ended June 19th. All by hand in 20 kg small crates. Fermentation takes place in stainless steel tanks with temperature-controlled jackets to ensure certain temps are not exceeded. Very important to maintain fresh fruit characters in finished wines. Fermentation takes approx. 12-14 days w/ a total skin contact time of 3-4 weeks depending on lots.
• Barrel Regime: 100% Barrel aged with a mix of new, 1st and 2nd use French, American, and Hungarian oak barrels for 24 months
• Alcohol: 14.0%
• TA: 5.4 g/l
• Residual Sugar: < 2 g/l
• pH: 3.70
• Production: 5619 cases
• Winemaker: Steffan Jorgensen

What’s Included

6-bottles:

• 6x 2017 Elqui Carmenere-Syrah-Malbec, Elqui Valley, Chile

Case:

• 12x 2017 Elqui Carmenere-Syrah-Malbec, Elqui Valley, Chile

Price Comparison

Not for sale online, $216/case MSRP

About The Winery

Elqui Wines

The Elqui is a transversal valley that borders the Pacific Ocean on the west, the Atacama Desert on the north, and the Andes Mountains to the east. Here, a cool breeze blows eastward across the Humboldt current, which flows from Antarctica north past Chile and Peru. These evening breezes cool the vineyards and lower nighttime temperatures by almost 40 degrees, creating wonderful natural acidity in the grapes. The proximity to the Atacama, makes rain in this region extremely rare, extending the grape growing season by 6 weeks more than other regions of South America.

Steffan Jorgensen, who was previously chief winemaker at Bergevin Lane in Washington from 2006-2012, and his wife Pamela Nunez, a trained enologist from the prestigious University of Santiago, make small lot varietal wines and blends from 20 acres of estate fruit from their partner and vineyard owner’s property in 2 distinct locations in Elqui.

All wines are made with special attention to their minerality and earthy aspects and combine with Steffan’s style to deliver broad and voluptuous wines with great acidity.

Available States

AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY

Estimated Delivery

Friday, Mar 10 - Monday, Mar 13

2017 Elqui Chilean Red Blend
6 bottles for $74.99 $12.50/bottle + $1.33/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $119.99 $10/bottle + $1/bottle shipping

How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations).
2017 Elqui Carmenere-Syrah-Malbec - $30 = 20.00%

Hi All,

Apologies about the late review, been recovering from last night all day.

My wife and I reviewed this wine and I will list our notes below. We did not decant this wine (though tbh we should have) and drank it straight from the bottle after opening it for 30 minutes. We paired this with beef bourguignon that I had made a day earlier.

Nose:
My thoughts: Lots of dark fruits, little bit hot on the nose. I thought the nose was a bit simple thought that could be the black fruits being so strong.
My wife’s thoughts: Some chocolate and black fruits. Little bit of forest floor.

Mouth:
My thoughts: A fair amount of black fruits, specifically blackcurrant and blackberry. Lots of tannin, little bit too hot for my liking.
My wife’s thoughts: Almost overwhelming with the black fruits and tannins. Though she thinks with the right pairing this would be mitigated properly. Too hot for her liking though she does usually prefer lower abv wines.

Final thoughts:
We both thought this was a solid wine for the value. We think that it would be a good pairing for grilled meats. The pairing with beef bourguignon was decent but not great. It wasn’t heavy enough for this wine. Might be a little to heavy to drink during the middle of summer but at the end of summer or early fall we think this wine would shine. I would recommend giving this wine at least 30 minutes in the decanter though I wouldn’t decant it longer than 2 hours.

This wine did pretty well on Vivino considering the low price. A lot of mentions on how flavorful it is. I might give it a shot.

meat?

I’d love to give it a go, but no shipping to Alabama.

After reading the notes (and checking out the video), I think I’m in for some. It’s probably a little late to ask, but is anyone in the Kansas City area interested in splitting up a case?