Winemaker Notes
In the mid-seventeenth century, the Eyzaguirre family left their home in Vizcaya, Spain, and traveled to Chile to seek their fortune. They prospered and became distinguished citizens of their new country. In 1768 Domingo Eyzaguirre was appointed mayor of the capital city of Santiago. His son, Domingo Eyzaguirre II, planted some of the first vines from French rootstock in that region and founded the Vino de Eyzaguirre near a village built by monks from a nearby Franciscan monastery.
At first the wine was “bottled” in sturdy, 15-liter earthenware chuicos, which survived the bumpy trip by horse-drawn cart from the village to the monastery. When the winery switched to much smaller glass bottles, however, breakage became a problem. To protect their precious cargo, the monks took to wrapping the bottles in burlap sacks. The idea caught on with the winery and became a tradition that has endured to this day.
Well-regarded for intense and exceptionally high quality red wines, the Colchagua Valley is situated in the southern part of Chile’s Rapel Valley, with many of the best vineyards lying in the foothills of the Coastal Range.
Heavy French investment and cutting-edge technology in both the vineyard and the winery has been a boon to the local viticultural industry, which already laid claim to ancient vines and a textbook Mediterranean climate.
The warm, dry growing season in the Colchagua Valley favors robust reds made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenère, Malbec and Syrah—in fact, some of Chile’s very best are made here. A small amount of good white wine is produced from Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.
Marked by an unmistakable deep purple hue and savory aromatics, Syrah makes an intense, powerful and often age-worthy red. Native to the Northern Rhône, Syrah achieves its maximum potential in the steep village of Hermitage and plays an important component in the Red Rhône Blends of the south, adding color and structure to Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is the most widely planted grape of Australia and is important in California and Washington. Sommelier Secret—Such a synergy these three create together, the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre trio often takes on the shorthand term, “GSM.”