Echoes of the Pacific: Leyda’s quiet revolution in Sauvignon Blanc

Viña Leyda’s vineyards on the Chilean coast — Viña Leyda’s vineyards benefit from cooling maritime influences

(Image credit: Viña Leyda’s vineyards benefit from cooling maritime influences)

Located at the heart of the San Antonio Valley, the vineyards of Leyda Valley have proven to be the perfect home for Sauvignon Blanc. ‘Leyda is one of the most distinctive valleys in Chile for Sauvignon Blancs, not just because of its coastal influence but also its unique soils’, explains Viviana Navarrete, head winemaker at Viña Leyda.

Elegance in every detail

Viña Leyda planted its first vines in the Leyda Valley in 1998. In the decades since, its team has fully mastered the nuances of the Sauvignon Blanc this exceptional cool-climate region produces. Sitting on marine terraces of granite, silt and limestone, these vineyards yield wines of great tension, aromatic precision and saline clarity.

‘Sauvignon Blanc is a part of our identity, our craft and our clearest voice in the region’, reflects Navarrete, who harnesses the particular subtleties of the local Sauvignon Blanc to produce the three very different expressions in Leyda’s portfolio.

Vi&ntilde;a Leyda's head winemaker Viviana Navarrete and viticulturist Tom&aacute;s Rivera — From left: head winemaker Viviana Navarrete and viticulturist Tomás Rivera

A new geography for Chilean Sauvignon Blanc

The winery collection begins with Leyda Reserva, an energetic white with a crunchy profile – a light, fresh drink. Coastal Vineyards Garuma, in contrast, comes from south-facing parcels where the sea has greater influence. Aged for seven months on its lees, this is a more austere, saline Sauvignon Blanc, with notes of lemon verbena, green chilli and coastal breezes, and a creamy but taut texture.

Finally, Lot 4 is made with grapes from a block in the El Maitén vineyard, just seven miles from the sea, planted with a Sancerre clone in granite and silt soils. They are pressed in whole bunches and fermented (with a small proportion of stems) in concrete eggs and untoasted foudres. The resulting wine has a vertical profile with grapefruit, lime and white pepper aromas, a chalky texture and a mineral finish.

‘In Leyda we’re blazing a quiet but confident trail for Chilean Sauvignon Blanc – one guided by purity and enlightened’, Navarrete remarks. Time will surely show that Navarrete’s wisdom and the Pacific’s touch yield a Sauvignon Blanc that speaks, with quiet precision, of its place of origin.