Pablo Morandé Jr

Bodegas RE, Chile

It’s not always easy having a famous parent in the same business, but Pablo Morandé Jr is more than living up to the example of his father, also Pablo, one of the Chilean wine industry’s most influential figures and the man who planted the first vines in the Casablanca Valley. Morandé cites his dad as his winemaking hero and worked alongside him at Viña Morandé before setting up his own winery, Bodegas RE, in 2011. The two clearly inspire one another.

In a country that is still comparatively conservative, Morandé stands out as a maverick spirit, specialising in off-the-wall blends, co-fermentations such as Cabergnan, Syragnan and Chardonnoir, and the use of a range of amphorae and clay pots. (Bodegas RE looks like Ali Baba’s cave, all dark corners and potential hiding places.) Morandé is also one of the leading lights of the natural wine movement in Chile, favouring little or no intervention on some wines. What he picked up on a study tour to France in 2014 informs his approach: freshness, elegance and the desire to reflect vintage differences. ‘Chilean wine is starting to regain its respect for old vines, old traditions and old places,’ he says.

Bodegas RE, Enredo, Casablanca Valley, Chile 2017 94

N/A UK www. bodegasre.cl This wonderfully leftfield blend of Gewürztraminer and 30% Riesling spends four months on skins in amphorae before moving to old wood. Floral, beeswaxy and complex, with a nip of tannin.

Drink 2019-2024 Alc 12% ➢

‘In a country that is still comparatively conservative, Morandé stands out as a maverick spirit’ Tim Atkin MW