“Pencopolitano” Itata Valley 2020 – Pedro Parra

To produce the “Pencopolitano” Itata Valley Pedro Parra, thirty percent whole bunch was used and fermentation took place with natural yeasts in concrete vats and open top stainless steel tanks. During fermentation, quick pump overs took place twice a day. The wine was then aged in a mix of untoasted oak tanks, foudres and concrete vats for 12 months.

The ‘Pencopolitano’, (a term for someone who comes from Pedro’s native city of Concepción), is a blend made of Cinsault and País sourced from several old vineyards in the towns of Guarilihue and Portezuelo. The old vines are planted on extremely rocky, quartzitic granite and are dry-farmed.

Pedro Parra is a renowned soil and vineyard mapping expert with a Masters and PhD in Precision Agriculture and Terroir from the Institut Agronomique National in Paris. As a consultant to many well-known wineries in the Americas and Europe, he has spent much of the past 18 years discovering new sites, digging ‘calicatas’ (pits for soil analysis) and transforming the way wineries manage their vineyards. However, he always dreamed that one day he would make his own wines in his native Itata. In 2013, assisted by consultant winemaker, long-term friend and business partner Alberto Antonini, Pedro released Itata wines under his own label. His vision was simple: to make pure wines from old bush vines grown on granitic soils and to help the local “brave vignerons”, who protected the land and vines for centuries.