by Patrick Ogle
Vina Maitia Aupa Pipeño 2016, a pais, carignan blend from Chile, is bright, fresh and light. When I looked at it, sniffed it I thought what I thought about the last pais grape wine I had--Beaujolais. But whenever you have a lighter wine, counoise or whatever? There is the Beaujolais crutch to fall back on. This ISN'T Beaujolais. This blend is its own wine.
I served this (first) a little cold. When you do that the fruit you expect is sort of underneath some it warmed to room temperature I got cherries and red berries and tartness. This is a wine that is hard to not like; it is light and refreshing and you can serve it with a little chill--or not. There is a tad of bitterness on the finish--an herbal flavor not far from anise with more green, leafy herbs lurking as well. This is a fruity light wine but is a long long way from the Beaujolais I imagined as I sniffed.
There are tannins here. They are not muscular or overwhelming but given the general lightness you certainly notice them. On the broad scale of wines the tannin here is what you'd call low BUT when the wine is light in other ways any tannin stands out. They add balance to this wine. There is also a brisk acidity here that gives this wine a lot of zip. You will want another glass on a hot day. Also, if you want to drink a red with a food you would usually have a white with? This might be a fit.
Pipenos are pais wines traditional to the south of Chile. The grape is the same that was called the Mission grape and also listan in the Canary Islands. This wine is dry farmed and comes from quite old vines; the pais vines top 100 years and
the carignan are over 70 years. They use natural yeast and this is partly made using carbonic maceration.
Add all the above up and then realize you can lay your hands on a bottle of this for less than $15--which is a steal for a wine this good.
Vina Maitia Aupa Pipeño 2016, a pais, carignan blend from Chile, is bright, fresh and light. When I looked at it, sniffed it I thought what I thought about the last pais grape wine I had--Beaujolais. But whenever you have a lighter wine, counoise or whatever? There is the Beaujolais crutch to fall back on. This ISN'T Beaujolais. This blend is its own wine.
I served this (first) a little cold. When you do that the fruit you expect is sort of underneath some it warmed to room temperature I got cherries and red berries and tartness. This is a wine that is hard to not like; it is light and refreshing and you can serve it with a little chill--or not. There is a tad of bitterness on the finish--an herbal flavor not far from anise with more green, leafy herbs lurking as well. This is a fruity light wine but is a long long way from the Beaujolais I imagined as I sniffed.
There are tannins here. They are not muscular or overwhelming but given the general lightness you certainly notice them. On the broad scale of wines the tannin here is what you'd call low BUT when the wine is light in other ways any tannin stands out. They add balance to this wine. There is also a brisk acidity here that gives this wine a lot of zip. You will want another glass on a hot day. Also, if you want to drink a red with a food you would usually have a white with? This might be a fit.
Pipenos are pais wines traditional to the south of Chile. The grape is the same that was called the Mission grape and also listan in the Canary Islands. This wine is dry farmed and comes from quite old vines; the pais vines top 100 years and
the carignan are over 70 years. They use natural yeast and this is partly made using carbonic maceration.
Add all the above up and then realize you can lay your hands on a bottle of this for less than $15--which is a steal for a wine this good.
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