How One Winery Has Achieved The Impossible With Pinot Noir

THAT winery is Cono Sur, a Chilean operation owned by the country’s largest wine business, Concha y Toro, and a brand that has made Pinot Noir its specialism, producing this grape at a range of quality levels, from the best-value examples on the market today to Chile’s first super-premium offering, an ‘icon’ Pinot called Ocio.

While the top-end Pinot expression from Cono Sur is an impressive example of Chile’s potential for greatness with this pernickety grape, and has gained Gold medals in The Pinot Noir Masters – which sees Pinots judged blind against the global competition – it’s Cono Sur’s entry-point sample that achieves something considered a holy grail for Pinot: a sub £10 red that would actually appeal to lovers of the variety.

And by that I mean it has the delicacy of Pinot-based reds, along with their juicy red berry fruit, when inexpensive Pinots rarely have both –