Viña Gillmore’s New Releases from Chile’s Valle de Loncomilla

Andrés Sánchez made wine in Italy before moving back to Chile and working with his winemaker wife Daniella Gillmore at her family’s winery in Maule’s Loncomilla Valley.  We visited them on our last visit to Chile, and Andrés showed us his experimental plots of 18 Italian varieties.  The results of those experiments are now found in several new wines under the del Maule label, some of which are imported to the US and reviewed below. We hope their importer, Global Vineyard, also brings in the Montepulciano and Sagrantino soon.  In addition to their del Maule line, they dry farm organically grown old vine Carignan and several other varieties in bush vines that are grafted on old Pais rootstock. Their Vigno Carignan has been especially successful, and we review that wine below, too.

The Wines

Gillmore 2023 Vermentino del Maule Valle de Maule ($18) 92 Translucent light yellow. Lively aromas of citrus, pears and fresh garden herbs repeated on a round, full palate with a hint of salinity. Lovely, grippy mouth feel with good balance and a rich, mineral-like finish.

Gillmore 2022 Aglianico del Maule Valle del Loncomilla ($20) 93 Almost opaque purple red. This is a densely flavored, savory wine showing integrated aromas and flavors of plum and dark berries with notes of grilled meat and underbrush. Full in the mouth with superb freshness and firm, finely-grained tannins. Fermented in stainless steel and matured in oak for 18 months. 14.5% alc.

Gillmore 2021 Collezione del Maule Valle del Loncomilla ($20) 93 Medium dark red.  This is a very attractive blend of Italian grape varieties showing dark red plum and berries with licorice and herbal notes. Bright and fresh, the mouth feel is suave and clean and beautifully balanced.  Whoever is responsible for the blend deserves accolades.  The Collezione is made from Sagrantino, Primitivo, Cesanese, and Dolcetto. Aged in oak for 18 months. 14.3% alc.

Gillmore 2015 VIGNO Valle del Loncomilla ($40) 94 Dark ruby. A complete wine in terms of mouth feel, depth, and complexity of flavor. The nose is expressive and spicy, showing dark fruit and underbrush. There’s good concentration, but it’s the silky mouth feel, firm structure, complexity of fruit and savory flavors, and rich, long finish that win the day. A spectacular wine for food. After our tasting we paired it with grilled hamburgers; the pairing was divine. 100% Carignan from 50 year-old estate vines. Fermented in stainless steel and aged in neutral oak for 18 months. pH 3.43, 14.6% alc.