Pedro Parra: Chilean Cinsault

I really like this wine … which is actually the first and only wine I’ve ever had in which the cinsault grape is the primary or, in this case, supposedly the only grape (actually a field mix, as noted in maker’s notes below) used for a 100% varietal. The first time I bought this wine – the 2017 vintage shown in the attached photo – it was $16. When I bought it again recently, though, it had gone up a buck, to $17 … and the alcohol content had come down from 14% to 12.5%. Generally, that reduced alcohol is just fine with me. On the other hand, the extra $1 is another step toward making this wine strictly a special occasion libation. But still … when there’s some reason to self-consciously celebrate, it’s worth it.

Right from the get-go, the wine itself presents as one of more of those earthy flavors that real sommelliers refer to as tobacco, leather, mushroom or something like that. Think old and a little musty. But what’s really noticeable, and likeable, about this wine is its mineral flavor. It’s distinct … and old, a little too polished and smooth to be ‘rustic,’ a little too gritty to be chic or opulent. At the risk of an unpleasant anology, rather cave or basement like, but in a very nice way. A hint of cement? Which would be appropriate, since the maker’s notes below elaborate that this wine spends close to a year in 3,000 liter concrete and oak vats fermenting, then more time in stainless steel and cement tanks to age. I’ve drank other wines that were made in concrete … notably some of the tempranillos of Spain. But the flavor of this one is more noticeable, perhaps because the grapes themselves are raised in the flinty-granitic hillsides of Chili southwest of Santiago.

But whatever. We are hanging on to one bottle of Pedro Parra in our small personal stash. And maybe I’ll get around to replacing it if there’s a sale or something. Wine Advocate rates this wine at 93+ … which I suppose is appropriate, for whatever it’s worth. Probably why the price went up a buck. The maker’s notes are pasted below.

Maker’s Notes:

“The 2018 Imaginador is made with Cinsault from five old vineyards in the village of Guarilihue in Itata from a dry year. It fermented with 30 full clusters and indigenous yeasts and had a long maceration after the fermentation finished. The levage was in a mixture of 2,550-liter oak foudres and 3,000-liter concrete vats and lasted 10 to 11 months. The wine is only 12.5 alcohol and has a mineral, fresh and vertical personality with good grip and structure. It has a serious and somewhat austere personality along with depth and complexity and is nicely textured in a reductive/flinty Comando G style. It’s all about texture and mouthfeel, with very good freshness, really superb. 13,965 bottles were filled in March 2019.”

IMAGINADOR is a wine that was in my imagination many years ago, when I discovered the great potential of Itata terroir. This wine comes from 4 different growers I source, all in the upper part of the hills, over granitic soils. All the sites were planted more than 200 years ago, with vines 45 to 70 years old, and so, the vineyard share a long history. All blocks are supposed to be Cinsault, but because of the history they all are Cinsault field blends with Muscat, Semillon, Carignan and Pas. They are all harvest and vinified together. Pedro Parra

Aged in stainless steel and cement tanks for one year, then eight months elevage in bottle. 1,300 cases produced.

The Estate
ABOUT PEDRO PARRA Y FAMILIA WINES (in his own words)
Pedro Parra y Familia was born in my head many years ago, but it was only after 15 years as a consultant, traveling and working all around, I felt mature enough to begin. The main idea was always the same; make pure terroir wines from Granite soils. Make wines I like to drink, and be free to select and create from several granitic terroirs. But more important, the idea is to start something that I can share with my family, my wife Camila, and my kids Diego, Felipe and Colomba. The place was also simple; Home. Today, locations as Guarilihue, Cauquenes, Florida, Ranquil, Rere, San Rosendo, all them between ITATA and BIO BIO, are still not well known in the world. They make me think to places I love, like Galicia, Barolo, Morgon, places who were old in tradition, but unknown to the world few years ago. With my project, I hope to help all those brave vignerons that protected for more than 200 years their vines, against the industrial forest companies, against politicians, against the big wine industries who abuse of them paying them almost zero for their best grapes. And I dream to see those places, and my home, Concepcin, becoming the wine center of the universe. Pedro Parra

FAMILIA WINES (in his own words)
“Pedro Parra y Familia was born in my head many years ago, but it was only after 15 years as a consultant, traveling and working all around, I felt mature enough to begin. The main idea was always the same; make pure terroir wines from Granite soils. Make wines I like to drink, and be free to select and create from several granitic terroirs. But more important, the idea is to start something that I can share with my family, my wife Camila, and my kids Diego, Felipe and Colomba. The place was also simple; Home. Today, locations as Guarilihue, Cauquenes, Florida, Ranquil, Rere, San Rosendo, all them between ITATA and BIO BIO, are still not well known in the world. They make me think to places I love, like Galicia, Barolo, Morgon, places who were old in tradition, but unknown to the world few years ago. With my project, I hope to help all those brave vignerons that protected for more than 200 years their vines, against the industrial forest companies, against politicians, against the big wine industries who abuse of them paying them almost zero for their best grapes. And I dream to see those places, and my home, Concepción, becoming the wine center of the universe.” –Pedro Parra

ABOUT PEDRO PARRA
Pedro Parra was born in Concepción, Chile, near Bio Bio and Itata, and he is raising his family there now. Pedro holds a PhD in terroir from the Paris Center of Agriculture, with six years’ experience in French terroirs. As a highly respected consultant working in several countries and terroirs (Chile, Argentina, USA, Italy, Canada, France, Armenia), Pedro brings an open mind and vision to winemakers and viticulturists alike. Pedro has been described as the leading figure of the “New Chile” movement by the international press, in part because of his constant endeavor to bring a new vision to the Chilean wine industry, searching for quality terroirs and developing new plantings throughout the country. As a consultant, Pedro’s has work with many wineries, that includes Comando G, Jean-Marc Roulot, Marco Marengo, Liger Belair, Altos las Hormigas, Chapter 24, and Zuccardi to name a few.

ABOUT ITATA, CHILE
Itata is a small, remote wine region in the Bio Bio area of southern Chile. The area is an outstanding mysterious place, full of history, terroir, and passion. Itata and Bio Bio were for many years an area of isolated granitic mountains, near the ocean, 500 kms south of Santiago. A difficult place to visit for centuries, with no roads, steep slopes, rain, and forest. Therefore, isolation was responsible for an strong local commitment to viticulture and wine, absolutely lost in time, and totally disconnected with the wine modernity that happened in Chile in the last 40 years. This isolation is the key factor for this terroir. No Bordeaux varieties invaded, no high yield production with irrigation; all of this kept the area pure and unique. In a geological sense, the area is defined by Paleozoic era, 220-300 million year old, schist and granite soils. There are no vines planted on the schist due to planting of pine and eucalyptus during the Pinochet era, so the terroir for wine in Itata is defined by the granite. Within the granitic areas, Pedro prefers to focus on the sandy quartz granite soils, as they force roots deeper than clay soils and therefore express the terroir better. Weather is coastal, cool, and cloudy with enough rain to make dry farming possible. The two varieties most widely planted in Itata are Cinsault (45 to 70 year old vines) and País (60 to 120 year old vines).