2020 Tabali Talinay Pinot Noir Pai Limari Valley 750 ml

Chile is known for extreme vineyards, but Talinay is one of the country’s absolute wildest. It’s steep, rugged, and flanked by cacti, and at first glance, you might wonder what possessed Tabalí to plant here. 

But when you taste the 2020 Pai Pinot Noir, you’ll be glad they did. 

Pai comes from a special 1.15-hectare plot in the acclaimed vineyard, and this vintage is perhaps the greatest Pinot Noir the winery—classified by Tim Atkin MW as a Chilean “First Growth”—has ever produced. And it’s a fascinating wine.

“I can’t believe this is Pinot Noir,” wrote James Suckling in his 97-point review. “Blind-tasting this, I’d guess Barolo for sure. So much effusive minerality with a decadent touch to the savory berries, iron, dried oranges and touches of caramel and soy sauce.” This is pure velvet elegance, streaked with minerality and suffused with uplifting acidity.

Located just west of the Atacama Desert—the driest nonpolar place on Earth—Limarí is among Chile’s northernmost wine regions. Located just seven miles from the ocean, the pristine, untamed terrain that surrounds the fog-draped Talinay Vineyard is part of the UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve. 

In 2012, Tabalí planted ungrafted massal selections—ones from older vineyards—from Vosne-Romanée and Gevrey-Chambertin at an extremely high density on a 30% slope. Six years later, Chile had one of its best vintages ever, one Wine Advocate rated 96 points.

Winemaker Felipe Müller East, a wunderkind with no shortage of accolades, fermented the Pai with 40% whole-clusters and native yeasts before giving it a year to rest in French oak. The result is a precise rendering of an extraordinary coastal terroir—one that’ll age easily for several years or more.