Casas del Bosque Reserva Sauvignon Blanc 2014
Gorgeous nose, pungent and complex with layers of aromas that transfer into the palate. Notes of gooseberry, key lime and herbs and jalapeno pepper hints give way to grapefruit and more tropical fruit richness, followed up with a touch of minerality. The palate gushes with pink grapefruit, gauava and a sweet, tart interplay that is fresh and vibrant. This has exceptional length and for the price this is a screamer. It is reported that Casa de Bosque makes one of Casablanca’s best Sauvignon Blanc (actually Chile’s best) and supplies Sauvignon Blanc grapes to some well known wineries with big names who know this to be true. Exceptional value, this wine has great purity and vibrancy that gushes with crisp fruit, with a finish you could keep time with.
90 pts Stephen Tanzer/Vinous June 2015 (JR)
Green-tinged yellow. Vibrant citrus zest and mineral scents are complicated by suave floral and ginger notes. Juicy and tightly focused on the palate, offering bitter lemon and lime zest flavors that gain weight as the wine opens up. Finishes on a tangy, citrussy note, with very good clarity and length and a repeating floral note.
On arrival at the winery all grapes were first destemmed and crushed to stainless steel tanks (via a chiller in order to drop the temperature to 5ºC or 41ºF) where they were then left to cold soak for 64 hours. Following this time the free-run juice was drained by gravity from the tanks. The remaining skins and juice were then dug-out and gently squeezed using pneumatic presses in order to separate light from hard pressings. The resulting juices were then left to cold settle (at 10ºC/50ºF) for 4 days following which time 93% of the blend was racked to stainless steel tanks, inoculated with selected yeasts and ultra-cool fermented (reaching temperatures as low as 6.5ºC/44ºF at the peak of the fermentation). Following fermentation this component was aged for 2 months on gross lees (without stirring) before blending. The remaining 7% of the blend was fermented with selected yeasts in 4th and 5th use French oak barrels with temperatures peaking at 22ºC/72ºF. Post fermentation the barrels were stirred weekly in order to encourage lees break-down and thus enhance the texture or mouth-feel in the wine. After two months the barrel component was blended with the tank fermented component, cold stabilised, filtered and bottled.