Terroir Sonoro (Juan Ledesma)
Santa Ximena Farm, Itata Valley, Chile
Juan José Ledesma lives, breaths and plays Chilean wine. Juan has been working in the Itata Valley in southern Chile for the last 24 years, consulting for commercial wineries throughout Chile while working with small scale grape growers in the south. Juan was born to a family of musicians and, if you were to ask him, he would probably say he is a musician first and a winemaker second.
Juan has combined both passions by utilizing music to assist with the fermentations and elevage of some of his Terroir Sonoro wines, going so far as to plunge speakers (actually a magnetic transducer in silicon) into the barrels during elevage. It’s his belief that the vibrations assist in harmonizing the wines. Think of it as battonage with vibrations. The wines with guitar strings on the labels have been treated to music while those without are simply pure reflections of the unique terroir of the Valle del Itata.
The Valle del Itata is a region that, until recently, had been largely forgotten, as the large, commercial wineries were focused on making European-style wines in Maipo, Colchagua, Maule and elsewhere. Itata was always considered a rustic and backwards area with no “aristocratic” grape varieties. This indifference meant that growers had no money to invest in fertilizers or treatments. They selected the most resistant grapes for mildew, oidium and other diseases.
Many of the still-productive vines date back well over 100 years and the vineyards here are organic by nature and are, of course, dry farmed. The region features granitic soils with lots of quartz and schist. This is poor soil with a low amount of nutrients, forcing the vines deep into the fractured ground in search of water and nutrition. Itata is near the sea and benefits from a coastal climate.
Juan works closely with his cousin, Alvaro Senor, a viticulturist whose family has owned their farm and vineyard since 1950. Juan works with tiny plots: 2ha of Cinsault, 1.8ha of Pais, and 1.8ha of Moscatel to make his unique and elegant wines. Field Blend Selections has chosen two wines, neither of which have been treated to music, to start.
Our Selections
Terroir Sonoro “El Impostor” Cinsault de Aguja Rose Valle del Itata 2022
El Impostor was first produced in 2014 when Juan decided to experiment with a particularly vigorous parcel of Cinsault. The grapes come from a two-hectare organic parcel of 20-year-old Cinsault vines planted on granitic soils with quartz and schist. Hand harvested and de-stemmed, the grapes see 24 hours of skin contact before pressing. The juice is fermented dry and spends two months on the lees before being bottled with additional grape must. The fresh grape must causes a second fermentation in 500ml beer bottles. Unfined, unfiltered and absolutely delicious, El Impostor is dry, sparkling Cinsault that positively glows with bright pink color. It’s tart and tangy with a sour cherry note that is similar in appearance to a Lambrusco Rosato and similar in flavor to a sour beer or a piquette. As it says on the label: “Like a beer, only not a beer… it’s El Impostor.”
Terroir Sonoro Moscatel Reptiliano Orange 2021
2021 was a great year for this wine, and Juan was able to harvest the grapes with time and no worries of wildfires. The moscatel was harvested by hand in the Florida vineyard in Itata and crushed using Zaranda. The wine begins fermentation in open tank with once daily punch downs. After seven days of skin-contact, the wine is pressed and finishes fermentation in stainless steel.
Then the real experimentation kicks off. Juan takes the "flor" starter from the previous vintage and adds it to the new wine. With the proper temperature in the cellar, it quickly spread over the surface of the wine and forms a film that both protects and transforms the wine. The wine ages for one year with a veil of flor before bottling without SO2 additions, filtering or fining. Chilean Vin Jaune? Not exactly. But Juan has found beautiful harmony between the floral and umami.
Terroir Sonoro La Vispera Cinsault 2024
La vispera is Juan’s interpretation of a "nouveau". In this case, the grapes are harvested in April from his Florida vineyard in Itata. Crushing the grapes with a traditional Zaranda allows Juan to retain at least 60% whole berries in the tank, promoting a partial carbonic maceration during the few days fermentation. After four days the grapes are pressed and the wine, still fermenting, is racked into a stainless steel tank where it completes fermentation.
The wine was bottled unfined, unfiltered, and without any additions on June 2024, on the "Vispera de San Juan" (San John's eve). This night is similar to Halloween when the world of the living and the spirit world are in close contact. The wine itself wonderfully fruity, with a classic strawberry and bubble gum notes. Fresh and juicy. Ideal for a spring or summer evening when chilled.
Terroir Sonoro Tinto Nitanto (Pais/Cinsault) 2021
Tinto Nitanto literally means “red (not so much)”, and is a wine that came about after Juan invited his father-in-law to help with blending trials in 2014. Juan and the rest of the team would spit the wine into a bucket as they tasted each batch for blending. His father-in-law did not (would not, and could not) spit. He said “make me a wine with less alcohol.”
In 2021, the wine is a 50/50 blend of Cinsault and País from 50–70-year-old ungrafted bush-head, dry-farmed, organic vines, planted to granitic soils whose roots extend 10 meters in depth. The two grapes come from the same vineyard with the País growing at the bottom of the slope, and the Cinsault at the top. The Cinsault is harvested early, at the same time as the grapes used of El Impostor. This lends the wine lightness and freshness. The grapes are destemmed using the traditional zaranda and fermented separately in stainless steel. The wine is bottled unfined and unfiltered, with sulfites only added at the start of fermentation.
Terroir Sonoro Malbec El Perseguidor 2015
Malbec Centenario in A minor.
Made from the "San Rosendo Centenary Malbec", a recently discovered parcel of 140 year old vines in Bio-Bio, this wine is the culmination of Juan Ledesma’s vineyard and cellar work. These ancient Malbec vines were found growing in a high-altitude vineyard mixed amongst Pais vines on granitic soil with quartz and schist that had been used to make Pipeno. Ironically, the grapes had been discarded for being too dense and color and too aromatic (!). Juan Ledesma is one of only three producers made from this tiny 8 hectare plot.
The historic Malbec grapes were destemmed by hand on a traditional Zaranda directly over an open lagar. The grapes were manually pressed and fermented in the same open top lagares. When alcoholic fermentation completed, the wine was transferred to new French oak barrels for malolactic fermentation. After malo, a speaker (technically, a transducer wrapped in silicone was submerged and music was played to enhance the elevage. Juan believes that the music vibrations keep the lees in suspension and enriches the wine.
This is a deep, layered wine with rich notes of black cherries, violets, tobacco and spice notes. The palate is round and silky with a touch of natural acidity.