2020 Cacique Maravilla Chacoli Pet'Nat Rosé

Region: Bio Bio Valley < Chile

Grapes: Pais

Vineyard/Cellar Stats: Biodynamic farming; dry-farmed, OLD, own-rooted vines (planted in 1776) on volcanic trumao (ash) soils; macerated on the skins then foot-stomped and fermented in Ecotanks for 2 months; clarified naturally by gravity; bottled unfiltered with no added SO2; 166 cases; 13% ABV

Winemaker: Manuel Moraga Gutiérrez

Another crazy cool wine from Manuel Moraga Gutiérrez, a larger-than-life figure who sports an awesome handlebar mustache.  He's the 7th generation of his family to work this vineyard in the small town of Yumbel, about 300 miles south of Santiago in the volcanic Bio Bio Valley. In 2010, the man behind Cacique Maravilla wines, Manuel Moraga, lost everything to one of the most powerful earthquakes in recorded history. Over the past 8 years he has slowly rebuilt his house and bodega, all the while making his wines, which are as real as you get from Chile.  This is his fizzy orange wine, made of the aromatic Moscatel d’Alexandria grape in the ancestral method.

Sparkling wine is definitely not traditional in Chile, but Manuel’s late father accidentally stumbled upon the ancestral method and now Manuel makes two fizzy wines every year.  Viscous, lightly bubbly and a gorgeous deep salmon color, this one is all sweet watermelon and summer fruits with some candied orange peel on the finish.  It does finish on the sweet side, so if you prefer a drier bubble, Chacoli is not for you.  Makes a perfect mimosa clean swap for brunch!

SERVING NOTE: freeze for 60 minutes before opening and then do so carefully over a sink, with a glass nearby to capture any overflow -- like many pet'nat, this baby is undisgorged, and has more chunky sediment than most, so it will absolutely erupt like the lava lamp in a bottle it resembles.