Garage Wine Co. - great scores!

2013 Garage Wine Co. Lot #47 Truquilemu Vineyard...$29.99
There were 19 barrels of the 2013 Truquilemu Vineyard Lot #47, which is from the Empedrado zone in the Maule Valley. This is closer to the coast full of granitic soils with some layered parts, kind of schists, which allow the roots to go deep. The nose is floral, elegant and subtle, a little closed at first, becoming deeper and more nuanced with time in the glass. The palate shows great, citric freshness with a thread of fine acidity going through its backbone. This is mostly Cariñena mixed in the field with other varieties picked and fermented together, but the Cariñena represents more than 85% of the blend in the wine. It has character, notes of the earth and also those violets only the best Cariñena can provide. Plain great, with a long life ahead. I had the chance to visit the vineyard later on and it's one of those places that when you see them, you understand IT HAS to produce great wine. And in a fresh vintage like 2013, it certainly does. Some 6,800 bottles were produced.

Rated 94/100 The Wine Advocate

2013 Garage Wine Co. Lot 51 Cabernet Sauvignon...$29.99
The 2013 Lot #51 Cabernet Sauvignon is blended with a little Cabernet Franc (15 to 16 barrels of Cabernet Sauvignon and one of Cabernet Franc), and is sourced from the San Juan de Pirque Vineyard. Most of the wines ferment in stainless steel with indigenous yeasts (some small lots are done in plastic bins) and then age in used barrels. There is good herbal freshness, ripe berries, earth, iron and a touch of blood. The tannins are very fine and there is a nice thread of acidity, with good balance. This vineyard is the second terrace of the Maipo river, with the classical rolling stones of Puente Alto, at almost 1,000 meters altitude. The bottles now show a round stamp saying 'Mountain Grown'. The 2009 tasted together with this shows classical notes of bottle evolution, layered with developed notes of cigar box, tobacco and graphite. Classical Chilean Cabernet. 5,000 bottles produced.
Rated 92/100 The Wine Advocate


2013 Garge Wine Co. Lot 50 Cabernet Franc....$29.99
The 2013 Lot #50 Cabernet Franc is sourced, like all the lots of Cabernet Franc, from the Pirque Vineyard in Maipo, and in this vintage the vineyard is shown on the label (well, it's actually painted on the bottle!). It has that note of freshness I find in some of the best high-altitude vineyards, with some blue fruit aromas, something minty, leafy, herbal, balsamic, very fresh and a little wild. This is a vineyard at some 700 meters altitude. The palate is also very fresh, medium-bodied with very fine tannins, a fine texture and is very elegant. I tasted the 2009 for context and aging potential, and even when they used more oak at the time, the wine is aging very nicely, with some rusticity. 5,513 bottles were filled.
Rated 93/100 The Wine Advocate

"I sat down to taste through an exciting collection of wines with Derek Mossman. Garage Wine Co produces wines from Maipo and Maule, and their trademark is wines with great freshness and acidity from some seven vineyards they work. 42,000 bottles per year of highly personal and full of character wines. I later met with Mossman again to walk some of the vineyards for where he sources grapes for some of his Maule cuvées and the work he's doing there to support the local 'huasos' and their vineyards is remarkable. The common thing that I've seen between Mossman, Cancino, Luyt, Parra and the other guys working in the south is respect -- for the people, the traditions and the places. These are wines of respect. An exciting project to keep in mind. I get a bit confused with the numbering of the wines, though..."- The Wine Advocate