Shop/Rest of World Reds/Gustavo Martínez 'Cuchacucha' País
Itata Valley, Chile
Gustavo Martínez 'Cuchacucha' País 2020
Gustavo Martínez
Chilean País — the country's oldest grape, rediscovered.
$43.00
750mlVintage may change. If it does, we’ll notify you of any price adjustment before dispatch.
About
País was once Chile's most-planted grape, then ignored for decades — now small producers are bringing it back. Light, bright, slightly funky, very food-friendly.
El Carmen de Cuchacucha is an old farm near Portezuelo, where the Itata and Ñuble rivers meet. The property went to the Jesuits around 1600 with País vines already in the ground. It sits on granite. Today an elderly woman farms it with two workers. The vines are dry-grown, and her cows graze between the rows and leave the compost behind.
Gustavo Martínez started out in 2008 as a technical adviser to Itata growers on a government programme. He worked two vintages with Louis-Antoine Luyt, then went out on his own in 2015. This is 100 percent País, hand-picked and destemmed, with a two-week wild ferment. It rested about eight months in stainless steel and neutral French oak. The 2020 was bottled unfined, unfiltered and without sulfur. Only 1,350 bottles were made.
Serve it cool, with charcuterie, empanadas or a simple roast chicken.
Producer note
Gustavo Martínez works with old-vine País, Cinsault and Carignan in Chile's traditional Itata Valley.
Structure
Picked on Stef's structure profile.
