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During my March jaunt to South America, I spent my birthday at the Santiago home of Derek Mossman, the man behind Chile’s Garage Wine Co. and iconoclastic director of MOVI (Movimiento de Viñateros Independientes, or “Movement of Independent Vintners”).

Think of them as the collective vinous mice, who are making tiny amounts of hand-crafted wines and are roaring at the Chile’s modern winemaking industrial lions in an area dominated by a (very) small amount of (very) big players who make (very) massive quantities of wine.  They count among their ranks a Swiss lawyer, a French photographer, a former submarine maker and a Scottish miner – not exactly your typical band of Chilean winemaking bothers (or sisters).

MOVI have been making a splash lately, releasing wines that are garnering increasing amounts of critical acclaim (guilty! – see my faves below after the jump) and news coverage.  In the long-overdue return of 1WineDude Radio podcasts, I talk to Derek about where MOVI sits in the grand scheme of the Chilean wine industry, the over-oaking to hell of wines generally, what makes truly authentic wine, and whether or not MOVI is achieving its vision of “effort and dreams put into the bottle.”  Trust me, this guys is good for a controversial quote… or two (or ten).  Enjoy!

1WineDude Radio Episode 7 – MOVI

Some of my MOVI faves from a tasting (of several dozen MOVI wines) held at Derek’s home in Santiago (for more MOVI reviews, check out this twitter mini-review roundup):

2006 Von Siebenthal Montelig Cabernet Blend(Aconcagua)
Price: $60
Rating: A-

One of the best Cab blends I tasted in South America, period.  Smokey, spicy, flowing with sweet tobacco and black currants, and a teeny bit of earthiness.  Chocolate, black cherries, and more tobacco on the palate and very “juicy” finish.  Like standing up to the fearsome dark of night and spitting triumphantly in its face. Kick-ass, indeed.

2007 Gillmore Cabernet Franc Old Vines (Loncomilla)
Price: $35
Rating: B+

Dry-farmed on old País roots, this dark  beast has an incredible structure, and is one of the most complete – and most interesting – Cab Franc wines I’ve had in a few years. The dark fruits are there, concentrated but not at the expense of added complexity like dried herbs and spices. Somebody tell CA to make wine like this – on second thought, cancel that, because it would cost like $125.

2008 Polkura “block g & i” Syrah (Colchagua)
Price: $35
Rating”: B+

Made from vines that face the south and get the benefits of cooling climate influences, there’s 2% Viognier mixed in for good measure and the measuring is indeed pretty good.  Ripe, spicy and balanced, this is a bottle to open with game meat dinners, pass around liberally, and talk about until it’s gone (and then cry).

2009 Meli Carignan (Maule)
Price: $35
Rating: B+

Another old vine, dried-farmed wine (sensing a pattern here…). Dark chocolate and dep, black plum fruits rule the day here, backed up by a phalanx of tea leaf aromas and wood spices.  The long finish has delivers about a dozen different kinds of plums.  So you’d better be liking plums, okay?  In this case, I think the odds are pretty good.

2009 Bravado Wines Sofía Pinot Noir (Casablanca)
Price: $28
Rating: B

Red berries, a little hint of smoke, and even some chocolate.  But the clinchers are the red fruits and mouthfeel on the palate: smooth, velvety and very, very sexy.  Hellooooo, date night.

Cheers!