2020 Miguel Torres Chardonnay Cordillera de Los Andes Limari Valley 750 ml

It’s easy to rave when it comes to the Miguel Torres Cordillera Chardonnay.

Torres is a pioneering Chilean producer with a shelf full of awards—including a Wines of Chile “Winery of the Year” title—but the Cordillera’s stunning value is what really got us going. 

In fact, one sip made us ask: Just how many 2020 wines with 94+ points from Vinous are available under $35? Not many. Under $20? Just five, the Cordillera Chardonnay standing tall among them. 

It doesn’t matter what kind of Chardonnay you’re into: If you like bright fruit with a touch of richness from oak, or steelier California examples, or even classic Meursault from a warm year, you need to try this.

The offshoot of the legendary Torres family winery in Spain—whose legacy dates back five generations—Miguel Torres was the first foreign winery to put down roots in Chile, arriving in 1979, when the country was barely on the wine world’s radar.

This Cordillera de Los Andes Chardonnay comes from the Talinay vineyard in the Limarí valley. The arid site gets very cold nights but plenty of sunshine, and that dichotomy helps create the perfect environment for bright, zippy wine with bold, supple fruit.

Once the grapes are harvested, the Torres family divides them nearly in half—with some fermenting and aging in stainless steel, and some in French oak. The combination means that the finished bottle displays the orchard fruit and rich texture we love about Chardonnay from classic California regions, buttressed by an electric minerality that’s a hat-tip to Burgundy.

This is one of the premier Chilean Chardonnays we’ve tasted this year.