Echeverria 'No Es Pituko' Viognier Curico Valley, Chile 2022

Procuder: Echeverria

Grape: Viognier

Where: Curico Valley

Country: Chile

Taste: A round and fuller-bodied white from a Rhone Valley white grape grown in Chile. This is from Echeverria non-interventionist line of wines, made with all native yeasts, no filtering and fining and no additives not even sulfites are added. A bit rustic with yeasty notes and pear-apple tones yet very approachable. This natural wine has a delicate straw yellow colour and appears slightly cloudy in the glass due to its lack of processing. On the nose it has aromas of peach and tropical fruits such as chirimoya, that harmonize with a buttery characteristic due to its malolactic fermentation. In the mouth, the tropical and floral flavors linger and it’s good acidity highlights this wine’s freshness. They recommend shaking it up and drinking it fast.

Notes from the winemaker:

“I think you’ll find notes of peach, white flowers, and tropical fruits; plus a palate that is clean with a slight creaminess due to some malolactic fermentation. It does not see any oak, so it’s just a pure expression of this Rhone variety shining in Chile. Pairs well with Chinese duck with a side of seasonal vegetables.” — Pedro J. Rodriguez

“In Chilean slang No es Pituko means ‘it ain't fancy,’ meaning this viognier is terroir-driven and as raw and un-precious as it can get. Viognier is a misunderstood variety in many parts of the world but I love it — a true aromatic variety that will really grow on you. This expression of viognier comes from alluvial soils with plenty of sunshine throughout the growing season and cooling effect at night.” — Pedro J. Rodriguez

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Additional info about the producer:

The Echeverría family came to Chile in the 1750s, from a little town called Amezqueta in the Basque region of Spain. They established agricultural properties in the north of Santiago, where they planted vineyards, among other crops. Some 200 years later in 1930, Roger Piffre de Vauban, a French Engineer from Montpellier, and Roberto Echeverría´s maternal grandfather, travelled to Chile and hence to Chile’s Curicó Valley, some 200km south of the capital Santiago. Here he planted ungrafted vines from pre-phylloxera French origin on an expanse of land called La Estancia, in a little town called Molina. He established there what, at that time, was a frontier technology winery with French equipment and machinery brought directly from France. It’s aim was to supply high quality wines for the domestic market. Soon after, Adriana Piffre de Vauban, Roger´s daughter, married Roberto Echeverría Rubio, and they had one child, Roberto Echeverría. In the early 1950s, after developing diverse industries, Roberto Echeverría Rubio, established a vineyard and winery also in Molina, encouraged by the family relationship with the ongoing winery at the La Estancia estate.

He grew strongly influenced by these two family winemaking activities, and developed an intense love and passion for winemaking, that would lead him to pursue university studies to obtain a degree in Agronomy and Winemaking, which he complemented soon after with Economics, obtaining a PhD at Cornell University in the US. After graduating from Cornell, Roberto worked for eight years as an economist in the World Bank. He lived in Washington D.C., together with his wife Gloria and his children, and travelled intensively worldwide. In his frequent travels, he became aware of the tremendous potential that the production of fine wines had to satisfy the growing demands of more quality-oriented consumers.

In 1979 Roberto decided to return to Chile to continue his family tradition in winemaking, and to focus on emerging new market trends and opportunities. He thought he was coming back to join an ongoing winery operation, but he arrived in a country in which the wine industry was in the midst of a great depression. Many wineries had gone bankrupt, and very little wine was being exported. The family business was in jeopardy and the old winery in which he spent his summers was on the brink of disappearing.

Today Viña Echeverría is still a family-owned and managed estate winery, and its vineyards and house occupy the same location as they did nearly 100 years ago. The 65 hectares of sustainably farmed vineyards in Chile’s Central Valley are planted, tended and harvested by the Echeverría family. Roberto Echeverria is still very active in the family business and continues to inspire the whole family to develop new projects and delight new customers. Together with his four children, Paulina, Viviana, Roberto and Diego they hand-sell their wines, traveling to their 40 markets worldwide on a regular basis, and count many of their customers as friends. They form an unbeatable team bonded together by strong family roots, shared passion for winemaking, uncompromising search for excellence and dedication to their customers.