Moscatel Rosado/Moscatel de Alejandría/Corinto/Torontel.

Field blend (co-ferment) on skins, pressed at dry. 120-200yr-old vines. Wine was basically made by Soledad (grower who lives in Coelemu, hence the name) because I asked her to pick Moscatel Rosado separately but the truck arrived with an exploding fruit salad of everything in the parcel so all went into the pot. Turned out much better than if I’d had my way.

An authentic field blend in vinification, but I’ve never seen a traditional dry wine here of predominantly Moscatel Rosado. It is a blanket term for a broad array of pink skinned vines, which are in-field hybrids of País and Moscatel de Alejandría, or either of the other traditional white grapes Corinto and Torontel. Phenotypically incredibly diverse but always bursting with aromatics. It is not a planted cultivar, but disperse vines exist in every old vineyard, large and robust like País and, in theory, easy to pick separately but historically lumped in with either white or red Pipeño.

I love that the white grapes Moscatel de Alejandría, Corinto and Torontel have tamed the intensity of pure Pink Moscatel in this wine. It’s a natural field blend, and one I’m hoping to repeat in 2021. Tiny amount of So2 added after malo but lab test reads 1ppm total. Original woodcut print by Claudia Rivera.

– Alice L’Estrange