The 2010 Gran Reserva Serie Riberas Chardonnay is sourced from the Ucuquer Vineyard in the Rapel Valley. It spent 9 months in a mix of new and used French oak, offering up a reticent nose of apple, baking spices, and floral notes. Considerably better on the palate, it displays ripe fruit flavors, good depth, and excellent balance. If the nose has emerged between the time I tasted the wine and its purchase, my score may appear conservative. Cocha y Toro is the largest wine producer in Chile as the above list attests. Remarkably, they are also one of the quality leaders and innovators leading the country forward. The Gran Reserva Serie are wines made from a single vineyard meant to display a particular terroir. The Marques de Casa Concha wines are also sourced from single vineyards but exposed to more new oak and a longer elevage. Some of the finest wines produced in Chile, particularly from the Carmenere grape, are being bottled and sold under the Terrunyo label under the direction of veteran winemaker Ignacio Recabarren.Importer: Banfi Vintners, Old Brookville, NY; tel. (516) 626-9200