Finis Terrae 2005, Cousiño-Macul
19th July 2008
The Chilean house of Cousiño-Macul has been going since the mid 1850s. It is still run by its founding family, using vines imported from Bordeaux at the time the house began. Thanks its to location and climate, Chile is immune to the Phylloxera aphid which destroyed most of Europe’s vines later in the nineteenth century. So the wines of Cousiño-Macul offer a direct link to a much earlier age of winemaking.
The connection used to be very apparent in the house’s flagship wine, Antiguas Reservas. This was an old-fashioned, idiosyncratic red that aged very well and was frequently compared to good Graves. That it cost only a fraction of the price of Graves made it especially appealing.
In the 1990s Cousiño-Macul moved their operation, the original site having been overwhelmed by the Greater Santiago sprawl. Their new winery lies in the Maipo valley, twenty miles to the south. It uses the latest technology and the latest techniques. In consequence the wines now taste modern and New Worldy: clean, soft and fruit-forward.
Is this a good thing? Opinion divides along predictable lines. American critics are resoundingly in favour. Robert Parker, the Supreme Pontiff of the US wine world, is especially keen. The Europeans, including Mr Parker’s British nemesis, Hugh Johnson, seem less impressed.
I lean towards Mr Johnson. There were already plenty of wines that tasted as though they were made in California. We really did not need any more. That said, Cousiño-Macul have completed the change expertly. Their recent wines are polished, and very good value.
Finis Terrae is a perfect example. It is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, offering a bright, strawberry nose and pronounced flavours of blackcurrant and leather. The oak-aging imparts a strong vanilla finish. It is enjoyable, and well worth the $20 (£10) price tag. But like many modern wines, it strikes me as somewhat two-dimensional and lacking in distinctiveness. Is this unfair? I suppose it is all a matter of taste. Do you prefer decaying old villas or gleaming new skyscrapers? In theory there should be no need to choose. But Cousiño-Macul have pulled down one to make way for the other, and I cannot help feeling a little sad.
