Chodin Param 'Parra Libre' Pais 2020

It’s a small natural wine community in Chile, and Paula Chodin Param and her husband Arnaldo Batista worked with Roberto Henríquez before beginning their own project.  They make wine in a small cellar belonging to a friend, and follow the same, minimal-intervention approach. All fermentations are with native yeasts, they use almost no temperature control, and sulfur is used sparingly and only at the end of malolactic fermentations.   

‘Parra Libre País’ comes from a single parcel of dry-farmed centenarian vines at the base of a hill in the area of Coelemu in the Itata Valley. The soils are granitic and the parcel is close to the Pacific Ocean, with its cooling influence bringing a lifting acid tension to the fruit.  The grapes were harvested by hand and destemmed, then fermented in open-top plastic bins with their skins, then the wine is racked to rest in a stainless steel tank. Bottled without fining or filtering.  

This is Pais with depth and complexity - and as it’s open to some air -  it shows its wild strawberry, red currant and hibiscus fragrance with fine texture and a Rooibos tea-like finish. It’s a compelling wine, both refreshing and cerebral. Bruno Sant'Anna