WorldWide Cellars has built an important portfolio of European imports. We do not disdain the new world, but one has to focus. Then, along came an inquiry from a new, dynamic producer in Chile named Juan José Tarud, who makes natural wines in Casablanca and Maule, from old vineyards of Carignan and Pinot Noir. Time to pay attention.

Juanjo has Chilean and Spanish citizenship, and there are wine traditions on both sides of the family. He spent 10 years in Spain, working for top wineries such as Dehesa del Carrizal (Vino de Pago), El Regajal (DO Madrid) and Heretat Mastinell (DO Cava), where he learned a lot about - a lot. He was very fortunate in whom he was able to work with and gain knowledge from, including Peter Sissek of the famed Dominio de Pingus in Ribera del Duero, Stéphane Derenoncourt, and even Paul Pontallier, former winemaker at Chateau Margaux. Traveling around Europe, he realized that his soul was not satisfied by the wines produced by the gigantic wineries that typify Chilean production. Nor was his body, nor his palate. 

Don Juan José produce their signature wines by resuscitating the old, hand-crafty methods - the wines are fermented spontaneously in clay pots of 300 to 500 liters, where they remain for 12 to 20 months, in combination with a very restrained use of french oak barriques and tonneaux. Only a touch of SO2 is used, and then only at bottling. Juanjo wants to make wines that are delicious to drink, but that can age gracefully in the cellar. The wines are not filtered or fined.

The Anfora program is pretty interesting. Amphorae give a wine the opportunity to experience a different sort of micro-oxygenation than offered by barrique and other wooden containers. Generally a faster exchange, and with no contact with wood tannins. The three primary Amphorae are more than 500L each, come from San Javier, and are themselves more than 100 years old. They were made by monks in southern Chile. The newer ones come from Spain, and it is those that are referred to as Tinajas. There is discussion about the possibility of burying them in the ground. There is experimentation with demijohns. Of course. 

This dynamic duo is turning the staid, commercially-oriented Chilean world of wine on its head. As you can imagine, their wines are something special indeed. 

~ Joe Kotnik