2022 Bodegas Volcanes Tectonia Chardonnay

With 2,900 volcanoes, Chile has a huge variety of volcanic soils spread across the country. Bodega Volcanes was founded in 2009 to honor this unique aspect of Chilean terroir. A Terroir Manager and Viticulturist were appointed to find the best vineyards to produce wines with tension and depth. Since 2018, a talented geologist has been employed who specializes in the influence of volcanic soil on the style of the wine. Winemaker María del Pilar Díaz has been involved in the project from the beginning and has since become an established name in the Chilean wine world.

The Volcanes Tectonia Chardonnay comes from a vineyard in the Malleco Valley. The soil of this valley was formed during (relatively recent) volcanic eruptions and therefore consists of flowed lava and mainly volcanic ash. The Volcanes Tectonia has matured for 11 months in barrels of 10% new, 40% 1-year-old and 50% 2-year-old French oak.

The Volcanes Tectonia Chardonnay is one of the most beautiful Chilean Chardonnays and has not been awarded 91/100 points by James Suckling for nothing. This wine has a delicate style, partly due to the soils that were formed during the eruption of two nearby volcanoes. The colour is golden yellow, the nose is medium intense and has notes of white peach, pear, quince and subtle notes of coconut and minerals. The taste is harmonious, with a fresh attack, a beautiful structure and a fine balance between acids and ripe notes. Is it new world, is it old world - you name it. Elegance in a glass, that's how we see it. 8,640 bottles of this beautiful Chardonnay were filled.

Bodega Volcanos

Bodega Volcanes is a project that started in 2009 and is part of Grupo Vinos del Pacifico (GVP). Some employees of this group came up with the idea to make a series of wines that had to come from vineyards with 100% soils of volcanic origin.

The five-person team consisted of winemaker María del Pilar Díaz, geologist Gonzalo Hendriguez and terroir manager Agustín Aguerrea. They selected three vineyards, spread throughout Chile, which they believe convey the ultimate expression of a volcanic soil to the wines. In Rapel Valley this is a vineyard with a soil of silt, clay and loam supplemented with coarser material such as stones of Andesite (an extrusive rock). In Maule Valley they found a vineyard with a soil of (weathered) granite. In Malleco Valley the vineyard is planted on a soil of so-called “Tolhuaco”, which consists of the ash of a volcano. María Díaz strives to express the purity and minerality of the soils in the wines. She succeeds very well, especially because excessive use of (new) wood is never made during fermentation and maturation. The wines are all lively and rich and have more complexity in aroma and flavour than comparable wines from the same region.