Tasting with winemaker Cristián Vallejo was beyond exciting and offered unexpected insights. The VIK red blend was exceptional and has room to grow and improve indefinitely. Cristián has the pedigree, having worked and produced wine internationally for many years. Time in Spain, Italy, France, and the U.S.A. offered cultural interpretations of wine, which informed his almost 20 years as the founding winemaker at VIK.
The wine is composed of 67% Cab Sauv and 33% Cab Franc from the winery estate in Millahue Valley, Cachapoal. It is black-fruited, fresh, and with phenolic ripeness; unfined and unfiltered, with a very long finish. Tannins are fine-grained and will continue to integrate. This is a wine to invest in for the ages. Tasting the wine was great, but here is what really got my attention.
I’d never heard the term “Circular Winemaking“. It’s next-level regenerative. The VIK viticulture & enology program combines three unique components of “Terroir”. The “Barroir” program includes making barrels on-site from the 300-year-old native coastal oak forest on the winery property.
The “Amphoir” program calls for 15% of VIK wines aged in 500-liter Clay amphorae “Amphoir” for 10-12 months. Guess where the clay for the Amphoraes is sourced and produced?
And finally … wait for it… “Fleuroir” program uses native yeast from flowers on the estate. The winery is developing proprietary yeast from 3 yeast strains, and will be reproducing it and spraying it on the vineyards to protect the vines. This project is imminent, with an estimated kickoff in 2018.
And there’s more. Barrel production onsite using local rocks and stones from the Pacific Coastal Range to toast oak barrels onsite. The project is still in development. I suggested the moniker “Rocoir“. I hope that’s enough to get your attention, dear readers. Read Cristián’s Wine Characters interview to learn more.