De Martino Legado Chardonnay 2022

Legado Chardonnay comes from the Limarí Valley, in northern Chile, a semi-arid region open to the Pacific Ocean. De Martino's vines are planted there on clay and limestone soils, rare in Chile. The morning mists rolling in from the coast and the coolness of the Humboldt Current temper the intense sunshine, allowing slow ripening that preserves the acidity and salinity typical of this coastal terroir.

After the harvest, the Chardonnay is vinified with respect for the limestone character of the site, then aged for eight months in neutral oak barrels. These old barrels do not stamp the wine with an oaky imprint: they encourage slow micro-oxygenation and bring a creamy texture while leaving full room for the saline expression of the terroir.

This wine reveals notes of lemon, grapefruit, mandarin, green apple, brioche, crème fraîche, white flowers and chalk. The palate shows great intensity of fruit, refreshing acidity and a creamy texture, before a finish marked by a slight saline note typical of wines from limestone soils.

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.