Louis-Antoine Luyt Blanco Chileno Cuvée Mathilde

The man who fell in love with South America, then learned vinification from Philippe Pacalet and Marcel Lapierre, and in 2006 settled permanently in Chile to make his own wines from centuries-old, high and cold, dry-farmed vineyards in Maule and Bio Bio. There he pioneered the maceration-carbonique of the Paìs grape, vilified by large companies, until he became fascinated by the even simpler Pipeño vinification. In this method, grapes are destemmed and spontaneously fermented in large open containers called 'lagares', then trampled underfoot and matured for a very short time in wooden 'pipas'. Pipeño vinification is completely focused on young, cheerful consumption, originally at festivities within the local farming community. The perfect antithesis to the heavy wooden bins for which Chile has become internationally known.