2022 Clos des Fous "Mr. Chile"

Clos des Fous was founded in 2008 by Pedro Parra, Francois Massoc, Paco Leyton and Albert Cussen. The four friends were tired of hearing that Chilean wine was all boring, industrial, green and overripe, so they set out in search of the dark side of the moon. Francois and Pedro are longtime friends, akin to brothers, and both have spent much time abroad making wine and working vineyards in Europe. Pedro Parra has a Masters degree in precision agriculture and a Ph.D. for his work with terroir. Pedro currently consults as a terroir specialist around the globe in Argentina, Oregon, Italy, France, Spain, Georgia, Croatia and beyondm, working with world-renowned vignerons like Jean Marc Roulot. The Clos des Fous philosophy is to produce wines with tension from grapes grown in extreme terroir with minimal intervention in the winery. Clos des Fous owns and manages vineyards in Malleco, Guarilihue, Alto Cahapoal and Western Aconcagua and produce a wide variety of wines at their winery in Cauquenes, Maule. “Mr. Chile” is a light red blend composed mainly of the Chilean workhorse grape País (pie-yeese), and rounded out with some Cinsault & Carignan. As the snow-covered label font suggests, this is a red to drink chilled. When it’s hot and humid but you still want to drink red with dinner, this is the bottle to reach for. Its deep cherry fruit perfectly complemented burgers and a chickpea salad for us but it will pair nicely with most casual situations (food or otherwise).