El Barrio Carignan Maule Valley Natural Wine from Chile, 2023

This highlights the point that “natural” wine is what a winemaker decides it is. The use of temperature-controlled vats is more than “natural” purists would accept, yet the inputs were indeed kept at a minimum – only ambient yeast and MLF bacteria were used, there was no filtration or added sulfur. This is not a huge departure, style-wise, from a normal wine. It is a deep purple opaque in the glass and leads with a medium-intensity aromas of oil, tar, hint of licorice, dried prune and aloe. A dry palate with a medium acidity, it shows a medium-plus extract, medium coating fine-textured tannins and a medium-plus body, with nice length and persistence of flavours of black fruit, aloe, ink, stone - fruit and pebble, and a medium finish. 2024-2026–IR