Cousiño Macul to release top-end Merlot

Family-owned Chilean wine estate Cousiño Macul is to release a high-end Merlot from the 2016 vintage using fruit from its icon wine Lota in a bid to raise the grape’s reputation.

Veronica Cousiño Macul is a fan of Merlot

Speaking to the drinks business during a recent trip to Chile, Veronica Cousiño Macul, export and marketing director for the estate, said:

“There are less and less mono varietal Merlots made in Chile these days but we love the variety. When it was discovered in 1994 that the Merlot in Chile was in fact Carmenère, most people ripped up their Merlot and replanted but we did the opposite.

Cousiño Macul’s top wine, Lota, won’t be made in 2016 due to a rainy harvest

“Merlot is hard to work with so producing it is a challenge, but we’re launching a high-end Merlot next year from the 2016 vintage using fruit that is normally destined for our icon wine, Lota.

“2016 was very difficult due to the intense rains, which affected our Cabernet and Carmenere to such an extent that we won’t be making a Lota from that year.”

The first incarnation of Lota was released in 2006 to mark Cousiño Macul’s 150^th anniversary. A blend of around 85% old vine Cabernet and 15% old vine Merlot from Alto Maipo, just 900 cases of the wine are produced each year, with single bottles selling for around £55.

In 2014 just 400 cases of Lota were made due to the increasingly shrinking yields from the old vines. Veronica told db that neither the name of the high-end Merlot nor the packaging had been decided yet.

The company are planning on it being a one-off release in reaction to the 2016 vintage, but it may consider continuing with the Merlot if it proves a success.

Founded in 1856, Cousiño Macul is the only 19^th century wine company in Chile still in the hands of the original founding family. All of the wines in the range are estate grown and bottled.

“We get the best fruit but the smallest amount from old vines,” said Cousiño Macul, who revealed that the estate is currently cloning its old vine Cabernet in a nursery in order to increase yields.

“Vineyards are the same as people – when they’re young they’re crazy but when they grow up they become more gentle and wise and produce more balanced wines with smooth tannins,” Cousiño Macul added.

Hoping to marry “the best of the Old World with the New World”, Cousiño Macul said she hopes her wines will one day have a presence on the secondary market but admitted that they had yet to achieve that goal.

“In order for Chile’s top wines to be thought of as having investment potential we have to take ourselves seriously first,” she said.