Itata is where Chilean wine actually began, and until pretty recently almost nobody outside Chile knew it. Roberto Henriquez works with white vines here that are around a hundred years old Corinto, which turns out to be Chasselas, alongside Moscatel and Smillon farmed organically and biodynamically. The grapes are destemmed, fermented spontaneously with native yeast in concrete, then aged eleven months in concrete and old barrels. Nothing added, nothing sanded down. What comes out has weight and texture and a chalky, herbal edge, which is not what most people picture when they hear the words Chilean white. It is one of the more distinctive whites coming out of South America right now.