It won a Trophy for its first release, another Trophy and Gold for 2007 and 2009, and Gold for 2010.
It’s from the Elqui Valley, an extraordinarily high region next to the Atacama Desert.
Thanks to the wonders of irrigation, flourishing green vineyards stand out in stark contrast to their moonscape surroundings.
The award winning Viña Falernia was set up by Italians Aldo Olivier Gramola and Giorgio Flessati in 1995 and is one of only two wineries here.
Today they have extensive vineyards and a cellar packed with state of the art equipment.
With impressive richness, great complexity and finesse, this is a wine to decant and serve with roast lamb on a special occasion.
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However, a down draught from the Andes and the Pacific’s Humboldt Current both help to moderate temperatures by day and ensure very cold nights.
In addition, the sunlight is exceptionally bright and snowmelt from the Andes provides all the irrigation water required.
Viña Falernia, one of only two wineries in the valley, was built in the late 1990s by Italian Giorgio Flessati and won a Trophy with its first vintage. Elqui produces “some particularly gutsy Syrah at altitudes of over 2,000 metres” (World Atlas of Wine), and the Carmenère is equally robust.
Deep bramble, cassis and spice character, it's great with lamb. Best decanted.
This juicy, full-of-fruit red sums up the best of Aussie wine – gorgeous ripe flavour, good intensity and freshness. Way & Cat is short for ‘wayfaring catador’, catador being Spanish for taster.
So the name is a tribute to how the team source their fruit – they head out into the vineyards to taste the grapes of their grower friends. When they find the selections they like, they vinify each parcel separately, then blend the results into fruit first expressions of the varieties they chose. That blend changes vintage by vintage, depending on what performs well that year. It's top for versatility too – great as a glass on its own, tasty with roasted vegetable quiche, sausage and mash. And just the ticket at a barbecue.
