- Sémillon
- Dry
- Residual Sugar: 2 g/l
- Medium Bodied
- 750ml
- 13.1% alc./vol
About the Winery
Garage Wine Co.
Garage Wine was literally started in a garage in 2001, by Etobicoke expat Derek Mossman and his wife Pilar Miranda. Since then, the dynamic duo handcraft wines from a series of individual vineyards located in the Maule and Itata Valleys, in the south of Santiago, Chile.
Garage Wine Co makes wines from a series of individual parcels, small lots / bottlings of 8-22 barrels that include a series of dry-farmed field-blends of Carignan, Garnacha, Monastrell, País, Cinsault and Cab Franc grown on pre-phylloxera rootstock with small farmers in the Maule and Itata. Each wine is from a 1-2 hectare parcel in a different place.
Over the years working in the community they have raised a veritable posse of vineyard hands whose skills are working the vineyards the old way / the traditional way– originario. The vineyards are on the old coastal range of mountains closer to the Pacific and have granitic soils with cracks for roots to get deep down into.
When GWCo. speaks of the provenance of these wines they mean more than just the geological terroir. Derek and Pilar think the farming practices that have evolved over generations have as much to do with the wines’ personalities as the soils. All the wines are made by hand with native yeasts in small tanks, punched down manually and pressed out in a small basket press. GWCo is still very much a DIY operation and we still tow much of the crop back to the winery in trailers behind trusty pickup trucks 2,000 kilos at a time.
Press Reviews
Descorchados
94 Points
Garage selected old semillon vines from the Sauzal area that are more than 65 years old for this white, and then used clay amphorae, old barrels, and flextanks to age it for a year. In total there were 4,571 bottles, according to the winery's records, and you have to try to get your hands on some. A semillon with deep flavors and herbal notes first of all, but it also has fruity flavors that will make your mouth water. It has a good weight for roast turkey or aged cheeses. Open it now or leave it for at least five years in the bottle. It has a long life ahead.
Robert Parker
94 Points
The white 2021 Isidore Vineyard Maule Valley Semillon was produced with grapes from a vineyard planted in the 1940s on decomposed granite soils. It fermented in tinaja with skins (one-third each with full skins) and some whole bunches added, and it matured in tinaja, FlexTank, stainless steel and used barriques for 12 months. It has 12.6% alcohol and a very low pH with very good acidity. It has a golden color and a complex nose of pollen and chicken broth, and there's an oxidative whiff (in a positive way) that made me think of peroxide. The palate is vibrant, and there's a chalky, austerity in the mouthfeel. 4,146 bottles produced. It was bottled in February 2022.