Aresti, Trisquel Series Altitud 1,245 Merlot, Curico Valley 2016

Curicó is far from being Chile’s sexiest wine region, but a recent visit confirmed encouraging results from producers’ hard work. This is a great example – from a high-altitude vineyard in the east, the first vintages were coarse and virulently green, but the 2016 gets spot-on balance: tense, refined, refreshing, with a beautiful herbal lilt and tannic finesse.