Cenizas Sauvignon Blanc 2023

Place, place, place," says Rafael Tirado of this stunning Sauvignon Blanc, which is consistently among Chile's finest. Showing remarkable tension and acidity, even in a difficult vintage, it has effortless energy and precision, with flavours of elderflower and lemongrass, some texture from time on lees and a salty, mouth-watering finish. 2024-30

The 2023 Cenizas de Laberinto Sauvignon Blanc opens with pure, floral, citrus-driven aromas, transitioning to a beamingly bright, tensile plate lined with mouthwatering acidity. The finish continues this live-wire energy, concluding with a tangy, refreshing energy laden with chiseled persistence. It was quite instructive to taste this next to the 2011 vintage, which had aged impressively well. This is \one of the more captivating and age-worthy expressions of Chilean Sauvignon Blanc.

This is from a selection of vineyards, a total of five hectares, planted in the early 1990s in the foothills of the Andes, beside the Colbún Reservoir, a large body of water whose influence, along with that of the mountains, makes this place as a cold zone. This comes through in the house's style of wines, especially in their sauvignon, which, in this case, is determined by strong, intense, and sharp acidity. The aromas are herbal and citrusy, without the aromatic intensity of those from the Chilean coast (where sauvignon is common), but with tremendous intensity and structure. This is lime juice turned to wine, a white made from mountains, from volcanic soils, and from very cold nights—conditions that couldn’t produce any other kind of wine.