Dominio del Cuarzo Cinsault, Itata 2021 - 75cl
Felipe Ramírez started Dominio del Cuarzo in 2019, and this Cinsault has quickly become one of the more talked-about reds coming out of southern Chile. The fruit is from a single hectare in Guarilihue, in the Itata Valley — dry-farmed bush vines planted back in 1960 on quartz-flecked granite and sand. Old vines, poor soils, no irrigation: the recipe for a wine with real cut.
Ramírez studied viticulture in Montpellier and worked harvests in Burgundy and the Northern Rhône before coming home, and the winemaking here is deliberately gentle. Native-yeast ferment, then eleven months split between concrete tanks and a quarter in neutral 500-litre barrels, bottled unfined and unfiltered. Nothing added, nothing stripped away.
Cinsault in this part of Chile is a pale, perfumed, low-tannin grape, and that's exactly what you get. The nose is bright and floral — wild strawberry and raspberry, dried herbs, a little rose. The palate is light-bodied and fresh, with a distinctive rocky, chalky texture and fine-grained, almost dusty tannins running underneath. There's a thread of granite minerality that keeps it honest. Serve it with a slight chill and it sings. This is a wine for a relaxed evening rather than a grand occasion — pour it young and enjoy the energy.
How to Serve
Serve cool, around 13–14°C — half an hour in the fridge does it. A standard red glass is fine; no need to decant. Like most good Cinsault, it's happiest slightly chilled, which lifts the perfume and sharpens the freshness.
Where to Drink It
Dandy on Maltby Street, made for this kind of low-intervention bottle. Planque in Haggerston, where the cellar leans natural and adventurous. The Wolseley, if you want something bright and easy alongside a long lunch.
Food Pairings
Roast chicken with herbs, or a plate of charcuterie. It has the freshness to handle a tomato-based pasta too, where its acidity does the heavy lifting.
