2022 Luyt Portezuelo - Pipeno Blanco (1L)

Farmer: Patricio Martinez. Mainly Torontel + Corinta (Chasselas) + Cristalina (Semillon) + Muscat d’Alexandria from organic, dry-farmed bush vines ranging from 100 to 200 years old on thin, red clay soils rich in decomposed granite, high in the hills of the Portezuelo sub-zone of the small Itata region of Chile. The bunches are harvested by hand and manually destemmed using a traditional zaranda; fermented spontaneously with indigenous yeasts in open wooden lagares; and macerated for 10-12 days with the skins in wooden tanks called pipas (from which the name “pipeño” is derived). The wine receives a very small amount of sulfur and a gentle filtration before bottling in liters.

Portezuelo does not look, feel or taste like a skin-fermented or "orange" wine in spite of what sounds like a long maceration for a white wine. It is light and all-white in color, flavor and weight, with a clean texture, white-flower aromas and a fresh, bright, dry finish.