2024 Cousino Macul - Chardonnay Maipo Valley Antiguas Reservas (750ml)

Cousiño Macul was founded in 1856, when Matías Cousiño acquired the thousand-hectare Hacienda Macul at the foot of the Andes, and his son Luis later built the winery into a proper estate alongside his wife, Isidora Goyenechea. It remains the only nineteenth-century Chilean winery still owned by its founding family, now in its seventh generation. As Santiago's growth surrounded the original Macul vineyards, the family added a second estate in Buin in 1996 to keep production growing.

This Antiguas Reservas bottling draws 85 percent of its fruit from thirty-year-old vines in Buin, with the remainder coming from similarly aged plantings back at the original Macul estate, both sitting within the high-altitude Alto Maipo. Grapes are hand-harvested and pressed, then most of the wine ferments and rests in stainless steel to preserve pure varietal character, while a smaller portion spends time in French oak barrels that add just a touch of spice and cream without overwhelming the fruit. The Andes supply the vineyards with pure snowmelt irrigation throughout the growing season.

The wine pours pale gold with silvery highlights, opening to tropical aromas of pineapple, papaya, and passion fruit. Fresh acidity carries a generous, full palate to a long finish, with just a whisper of oak adding complexity. Serve it with tuna tartare, seafood pasta, or a Caesar salad.