Casa Marin Miramar Syrah 2015

Susie & Peter, Masters of Wine

This wine is a plea in liquid form. It is, quite simply, sensational Syrah. It came within a whisker of beating Casa Real to the Top Red award this year. Its refined perfume features notes of black pepper, olives, gunflint and fresh blackberries. The palate profile is so elegant and refreshing, with wonderful crunchy fruit, savoury layers and a vibrant finish. It’s beautifully mature, with hints of tobacco leaf and dried meat creeping in, but it’s in no way fading. It manages that rare feat for a red wine of marrying dizzying complexity with a wonderful lightness of touch. And yet it’s really not very expensive for what it is. So what’s going on here? Well, we went to chat with Felipe and Mariluz Marin and stood in their Syrah vineyard with them. ‘The only variety we struggle to sell is our Syrah,’ sighs Felipe. ‘It’s a very different style from most other New World Shiraz, it’s hard to get ripe then needs time in barrel and bottle. We started to have a backlog of stock…’ Long story short, they used to have 5 hectares of Syrah, now they only have 1.5 ha. This 2015 is their current vintage on sale. Before we left, we extracted a promise from them to not give up on Syrah. Our side of the bargain was to champion this absurdly underappreciated wine. So there you have it: buy this stunning Syrah, please! It’s delicious. We may risk losing one of the gems of global Syrah if this wine continues to remain as underappreciated as it currently is.

Vinous

The 2015 Syrah Miramar Vineyard from Lo Abarca in San Antonio spent 28 months in French oak barrels, 25% of which were new. Combining primary and tertiary notes, it offers layered aromas of pepper, rosemary, hop, musk and graphite. The 2015 is silky and intense, gaining agility from savory tertiary nuances. This coastal Syrah recalls the Northern Rhône, with the warmth of a sunny vintage delivering full ripeness.

Descorchados Chile

This is one of those rarities that only occur in very few wineries in South America, and Casa Marín is one of them. This wine, now nine years old, is an example of how the cool climate of Lo Abarca (about four kilometers from the Pacific, bathed by cold sea breezes) is a kind of fountain of youth for its wines. The years seem to have stood still here. It has an intense color, and the aromas are spicy and, above all, fruity. A red fruit juice that has intense sharp and incisive acidity. The flavors are juicy, and the tannins are fine and penetrating. More than 3,000 bottles of this wine were made. A must-try that, more than a syrah, is a red wine from Lo Abarca, and that is how Casa Marín should offer it.

Alistar Cooper, Master of Wine

Jamie Goode

This is the current release. Three years in barrel, and time in bottle. It’s quite harsh when it is young. This has high acidity and it’s really vivid and intense with some blood, iron and white pepper. It’s vivid, focused and taut with some good acidity and a bit of structure, as well as vivid red and black fruits. Just a hint of green. Finishes firm. A beautiful expression of Syrah.

Decanter

Founder of Casa Marín, María Luz Marín is the first female winemaker and winery owner in Chile. In 2000, she ignored advice from colleagues and experts and established this cool climate winery in the Lo Abarca region which she now runs with her son, Felipe Marín. Together with their team, they produce award winning premium wines and are passionate about sustainable viticulture and winemaking. Due to the vineyards' close proximity to the Pacific Ocean and the resulting overall low temperatures, this wine has a naturally high acidity and is often compared to a Northern Rhône Syrah in style. Alistair Cooper MW: Oodles of clove, spice and black pepper on the nose. The palate is so fresh and zippy - elegant restrained and very classy. Structured fine-grained tannins and a meaty olive, curry leaf laced peppery finish. Outstanding. Dirceu Vianna Junior MW: A blockbuster with intense aromas of blueberries, cloves, curry leaf, tobacco, dried herbs, chocolate and wet earth. On the palate it is harmonious and elegant with a beautiful refined structure, crunchy freshness and attractive savoury complexity on the finish. An impressive marriage of flavours makes this a sensational wine. Peter Richards MW: Initially toasty, charry, touch resinous. Opens with a vivid, uncompromising nose that leaps out of the glass. Wonderfully fresh cracked black pepper! So dynamic and upbeat. Tobacco and graphite too. Wild blackberry fruit. Slight curry leaf hints, roasted nuts. Focused, pure, pristine, vivid. Sensational stuff.