Pedro Parra y Familia Cinsault 'Monk' 2020

Price: $36.99

Sold Out

Request this Item

Producer	Pedro Parra y Familia
Country	Chile
Region	Bio Bio
Varietal	Cinsault
Vintage	2020
Sku	29433
Size	750ml

 

Itata is a small, remote wine region in the Bio Bio area of southern Chile. The area is an outstanding mysterious place, full of history, terroir, and passion. Itata and Bio Bio were for many years an area of isolated granitic mountains, near the ocean, 500 kms south of Santiago. A difficult place to visit for centuries, isolation was responsible for a strong local commitment to viticulture and wine, absolutely lost in time, and totally disconnected with the wine modernity that happened in Chile in the last 40 years, including introduction of Bordeaux varieties, irrigation, and high-yield production. In a geological sense, the area is defined by Paleozoic era, 220-300 million year old, schist and granite soils. There are no vines planted on the schist due to planting of pine and eucalyptus during the Pinochet era, so the terroir for wine in Itata is defined by the granite. Within the granitic areas, Pedro prefers to focus on the sandy quartz granite soils, as they force roots deeper than clay soils and therefore express the terroir better. Weather is coastal, cool, and cloudy with enough rain to make dry farming possible. The two varieties most widely planted in Itata are Cinsault (45 to 70 year old vines) and País (60 to 120 year old vines). 

Pedro Parra was born in Concepción, Chile, near Bio Bio and Itata. He holds a PhD in terroir from the Paris Center of Agriculture, with six years’ experience in French terroirs. As a highly respected consultant working in several countries and terroirs (Chile, Argentina, USA, Italy, Canada, France, Armenia), Pedro has been described as the leading figure of the “New Chile” movement in part because of his constant endeavor to bring a new vision to the Chilean wine industry, searching for quality terroirs and developing new plantings throughout the country. As a consultant, Pedro’s has worked with many wineries, that includes Comando G, Jean-Marc Roulot, Liger Belair, Altos las Hormigas, and Chapter 24. 

This single vineyard Cinsault comes from soils rich in silt, sand, and red granite. Native yeast fermentation with 30% whole clusters. Aging took place in 1,500-liter oak vats for just under 1 year prior to bottling. The muscular “Monk” Cinsault pays homage to jazz musician Thelonius Monk by displaying a direct, strong, and complex wine in full force.