This year's Decanter World Wine Awards Regional Trophy for Chilean Sweet over £15 went to Miguel Torres, Nectaria, Curicó 2009 (14.5%)
Tasted against:
- No other Golds in this category
Profile:
Miguel Torres is based in Curicó and owns more than 350 hectares of vineyards across five different properties, as well as having long-standing relationships with growers in regions the length of the country.
Torres has made wine in Spain for more than 140 years, and has owned vineyards for more than 300. Its Chilean outpost, formed in 1979, was the first foreign winery to lay down roots here, a result of the Torres’ family’s belief in Chile’s soil and climate – as well as somegentle coaxing from Chilean winemaker and family friend Alejandro Parot. Miguel Torres Maczassek, son of Miguel Torres Snr, has been general manager of this Chilean subsidary since 2009.
This Trophy winner, a 100% Riesling, is aged for 14 months in French oak and has 77g/l residual sugar, balanced by refreshing acidity. The first vintage was in 1998 and it is not a wine made every year, simply because Chile’s climate is not conducive to producing botrytis-affected grapes. Consequently, the viticultural team works hard on the vines to supply some encouragement, the aim being to create a microclimate of more absorbed humidity and less ventilation.
As with many sweet wines made from botrytised grapes, it’s necessary to make several passes through the vineyard, choosing only the individual berries that show the correct level of infection. The fruit for the 2009 Nectaria was picked over a four-week period.
Written by Decanter
