2023 Longavi "Cementerio" Chenin Blanc Maule Valley

Professional Reviews

Notes

Longavi is a collaboration between Chilean winemaker Julio Bouchon (Bouchon family wines) and South African winemaker David Nieuwoudt (Cederberg). Based in the Maule Valley, the Southern part of Chile’s Central Valley, in fact they take their name after one of the region's snow capped stratovolcanoes. Located hundreds of miles South of Santiago,the region is as rich in old vines as it is isolated. Their wines reflect the history and diversity of the region, made with old varieties, like Pais, Carignan, Moscatel. Not to mention varietals that represent their partnership, Chenin Blanc, and Grenache. The vineyards are farmed organically and sustainably (this was not a region where conventional viticulture took hold. The wines are made in a minimal intervention style, where less is more but not to the detriment to the wines enjoyability. Cementario is is the name of the vineyard, which is adjaect tothe local cementary, where they grafted Chenin Blanc onto a 70 old vine Pais vineyard. Whole cluster, native yeast ferment in large used French oak barrels, and then aged on lees for a year in those same barrels.