When it comes to pursuit of drinking good wine, sometimes you get lucky enough to stumble upon one of those bottles that hits the price-quality ratio dead on. A wine that year after year gives the same consistency, hovers in the same price range, and has decent distribution to find it easily. After all, you have to be able to get the goods! While I could wax on and give you my short (and long) list of many South American wines that fit suit, but I want to highlight one that we have been drinking a lot of as of late. This wine fills the price-quality ratio AND, to boot, is organic, biodynamic, and sustainably farmed.
(Drum roll). Let me introduce to you Coyam, from Emiliana Orgánico.
I will admit it, I was smitten with this wine from the first time its juice passed my lips in 2003. At that time, I was at a dinner party with a friend whose husband was a wine buff. I was a wine newbie and just recently starting to get seriously obsessed with the topic. At we sat there nibbling on our lamb chops, I savored the historic 2001 vintage, silently amazed (fyi, the grapes used for only that vintage would later come to be their ultra premium baby, “G“). The wine wooed my palate: robust and smooth, tannic yet elegant, bold yet understated, it got better and better as I drank it. Those letters, c-o-y-a-m, were engrained in my young wine mind.
As I got to know Emiliana’s project through our wine tours in the Colchagua Valley and meeting their wine consultant, organic/biodynamic pioneer Alvaro Espinoza, I became more and more convinced that Coyam is one of Chile’s great, solid wines in the mid-range of US$20-30. It’s an interesting niche, in my opinion, in the wine market. While it is far from entry-level wines, it is not so pricey either that it wouldn’t merit opening mid-week for a little self-indulgence. And beyond the price tag, with Coyam, you are receiving way more in terms of quality. Yes, they give you WAY more “use” value than “cash” value paid.
While the blend of Coyam changes slightly every year, the base is always Syrah, Carmenere, and Cabernet mixing in some fun other French varietals like Mouvedre or Petit Verdot. I was privileged enough to recently taste the soon-to-be-released 2007 vintage. 2007 in Chile was another wham-o vintage: perfect ripening conditions and no rain during harvest. Those little berries could just hang out until they reached their perfect point for picking. The results? Well, I will leave it to my tasting notes below and for your tastebuds to decide.
Coyam (Emiliana Orgánico) 2007
This wine is big. Big in structure, presence, and taste. If it had a body type, I would describe it as Mr. T. It is also “big” in alcohol at 14.5%, normal for the hot Colchagua Valley, although the wine is very balanced. The 2007 is wound tight still and upon opening the bottle I felt like I was committing a quasi infanticide, knowing how well this wine can age. It needs aereation for sure so be aware of that and don’t “hurry” the wine or you may miss its subleities.
On the nose, it smells explosive and fruity. Like juicy black plums that you could crush in your hands, blackberries, some dried fruits like prunes or figs and barrel notes linger. After letting this open, in the mouth, it was dense and chewy. Tannic but smooth. This vintage felt rounded, more elegant, soft, and even a little “fresher” (not so “cooked”) as hot years in Colchagua can be.
I will be honest that we felt after one glass that with 1 hour oxygenation the wine deserved more time to open. So we put in the frig and returned the next day. Another beast, especially when served just a little chilled (remember, room temp is always warmer than you want to serve reds especially in our non A/C apartment in summer time…). Now we were in business. Coyam had come out of its cocoon: long, balanced, nice acidity, bright. Just delicious.
My favorite vintage to date since 2001. Thankfully, I know where to get Coyam, and it won’t break the bank at around US$30.
Salud!
