TABALÍ-ESPINAL VINEYARDS
Located in Limarí Valley, with a cool coastal climate and alluvial soils with limestone veins.
SOURROUNDINGS
These two vineyards are located in the coastal area of the Limarí Valley and share a similar environment. They are alluvial terraces interrupted by large ravines formed long ago by rivers that today are dry but have ample vegetation at their base. There are lots of small thorny bushes and wild scrub and, on the northern and western slopes of the ravines (the sunniest), there are a lot of cacti. Here the valley is very wide, with great visibility because of the purity of its air and the scarcity of buildings. It is windy in the afternoons and is technically classed as a cool area for wine production. The vineyards in this area are intermingled with other crops, especially olive trees for olive oil production.
SOIL
These two vineyards are located on the oldest alluvial terrace in the coastal part of the Limarí Valley. It was the first to be formed, dating back to the Quaternary Period (1.5 million to 10,000 years ago) when there were a number of glacial and interglacial periods. The increase in temperatures in the Andes mountains led to the ice beginning to melt. These alluvial terraces were formed with the deposits left by the rivers, in this case great torrents of water rushing down from the mountains to the ocean. This characteristic of the soil makes it appropriate for producing high-end wines. In the coastal area where these two vineyards are located (Tabalí is 29km from the sea and Espinal 24km), the alluvial terrace reveals different levels of clay at the surface. This gives way to a matrix of alluvial soil (volcanic rock which was rounded by erosion as it was carried many kilometres from high up in the mountains). This soil is very stony but has veins of limestone in the form of dust, mainly consisting of calcium carbonate. The limestone rocks in the high peaks of the Andes mountains were dragged by melting ice to the lower parts of the valley and deposited there as dust mixed with alluvial soil. This phenomenon is what marks the Limarí Valley as immediately different from Chile’s other wine regions, as limestone produces very refreshing, mineral wines in a style quite different to those from the rest of the country, even cool areas.
WINES
Fresh, elegant, superb in the mouth with marked minerality. The Tabalí vineyard is where the first vineyards were planted and so these are the oldest vineyards in the valley, producing wines of extraordinary complexity and quality, especially the Syrah. In the case of Espinal, we planted in areas where the alluvial limestone matrix was close to the surface. It produces wines with a marked cool character but with nicely ripe tannins and mineral flavours. They are quite vertical and unique.
