Cono Sur Bicicleta Chardonnay 2025

This Chardonnay comes from Chile's Central Valley, a vast wine-growing plain stretching between the Andes and the Coastal Range. The Mediterranean climate here is dry and sunny, tempered by cool breezes from the Pacific and by air flowing down from the mountains, which preserve the freshness of the white grapes. From its creation in 1993, Cono Sur specialised in the most delicate grape varieties to work with in Chile, including Chardonnay.

The grapes are picked by hand and by machine, then pressed. The musts are settled at 4 °C for 48 hours, before a slow fermentation in stainless-steel tanks at 13.5 °C for around 28 days. The wine is aged for four to twelve months in stainless-steel tanks, without oak, to preserve the brightness of the fruit, then fined and filtered before bottling.

This wine reveals notes of lemon, grapefruit, pineapple, white peach, melon, pear, white flowers and flint. Citrus and white-fleshed fruit dominate, accompanied by subtle floral notes and a mineral touch. On the palate, well-balanced acidity brings freshness and persistence, with fine concentration and a clean finish.

It was Hernán Cortés who ordered the cultivation of vines upon the conquest of Mexico in 1524. It gradually spread from Mexico southward, reaching Chile in 1555. During the first three centuries of colonization, only país, a characterless and very productive black grape variety, was cultivated in Chile. It was not until the mid-19th century that noble varieties were introduced: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Sauvignon Blanc, and Chardonnay, mainly. Twenty years later, winemaking was modernized under the impetus of wealthy landowners and French experts who had been forced out of work by phylloxera in Europe. Chile stretches 4,300 kilometers from north to south. It is sandwiched between the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Andes Mountains to the east, the Atacama Desert to the north, and the Patagonian plains and glaciers to the south. These natural barriers prevented phylloxera from entering the country. Although the country is only 160 kilometers wide, it enjoys ideal conditions for growing grape varieties from warm, intermediate, and cool regions, so much so that it is often described as a vineyard paradise. With nearly 300 estates producing bottled wines, Chile ranks between 6th and 8th in the world.