Chile grows Sauvignon Blanc along a long, cool stretch of the Central Valley, and this is one of the country's most widely poured examples. Casillero Del Diablo is the label Concha y Toro built for its varietal range, and this bottling sits under its Devil's Carnaval name, a 2023 picked for freshness rather than weight.
- Sauvignon Blanc, 100% of the blend.
- Central Valley, Chile.
- 2023 vintage, dry and light-bodied.
- 12.5% ABV, high acidity, low tannin.
- 750ml bottle.
How it is made
The Central Valley runs hundreds of kilometres north to south, and its white wines lean on the cooling pull of the Pacific and the Andes. Sauvignon Blanc is picked early there to hold onto its acidity, then fermented cool and kept away from oxygen so the aromatics stay in the glass rather than fading out.
How it tastes
Green apple and citrus up front, then passionfruit and something grassier underneath. There is a flinty, almost stony edge that comes from the grape itself, not from oak, and the wine sees none. High acidity keeps it tight and brisk through to a clean, dry finish. Light in body, so it reads more like cut fruit than anything creamy.
Good to know
Sauvignon Blanc is one of the few grapes where the winemaker's main decision is how green to let it get. Pick too early and the wine turns grassy and sharp; too late and the passionfruit takes over and the freshness goes. The flinty note in the tasting profile is a compound called methoxypyrazine, the same one that gives green bell pepper its smell, and in a cool-climate Sauvignon Blanc it is a feature rather than a fault.
