Okay so welcome everybody To discover chili with myself lydia Harrison Master of wine and this is the first Webinar we’re doing on chili this is my Own photo in the background of one of The wineries i’m going to Talk about and i’m very excited to be Talking about chile it’s a Beautiful country i visited for the First time Back in 2019 on my very first mw trip And It was a brilliant um experience so i’m Very excited to talk to you about it This evening and but just a little Uh a little caveat i obviously i don’t Know everything about chile there’s Hundreds Thousands of producers and we can’t Cover every single thing in tonight’s One-hour webinar so what i want to use This for Is to go through some of the kind of Key areas at the moment some of the kind Of current topics And trends that are going on to cover Some of the you know Really regionally important areas or Great varieties but equally some of the Emerging styles that are going on Some of the challenges that it grows That growers are facing at the moment And things like that so i’ll be
Looking at some of the highlights for my Trip basically Obviously we didn’t visit every single Producer but i’m going to take you Through Some of the very memorable moments uh For me And highlight some of the key the key Pointers that i found really really Interesting on the trip So just a little bit about me first of All um my name is lydia harrison Obviously i am an educator at wst school In london At the moment we’re at home so i am Teaching online teaching webinars And i also organize our events program So hence i’ve organized myself To do one of our own events um and yes i Passed my master of wine in 2019 And this is my very first mw trip to Chile so It’s been lovely looking uh putting all These slides together reminiscing about When you used to be able to travel and My trip there Because it was a wonderful experience And you have my instagram handle there If you Want to contact me directly so i’m going To do a very brief history It is very brief because i want to Concentrate more on the kind of current Trends and what’s going on now in the
Country But just to give you a little bit of Insight so it was the mid-1500s when Spanish travelers brought viticulture to Chile And you’ll see some of these traditional Grapes i am going to talk about paige Later on but moscato also and toronto Then a little bit later so 300 years Later this is when you started to see The french influence so A lot of the french grape varieties that Are widely planted there now like Cabernet sauvignon Carrion etc that we’ll talk about later And started to come into being Here and some of the key wineries that That you commonly see really widely on a Lot of wine labels where were founded Sort of from this period um until the Sort of early 1900s so I’m going to talk about san pedro later You’ve got country toy though very big Brand a razorist Um being founded and then towards the End of the 19th century so from 1980s Onwards This is when you really started to see Some dynamism in the chilean wine Industry So a lot of innovation huge improvements In terms of quality of the wine being Produced And equally quantity there’s been a lot
Of growth in vineyard Area um quite rapidly throughout this Period particularly in the 90s But also since then and exploration of New areas And a lot of foreign investment as well So you’ll see some of the wineries i’ll Talk about later they have partnerships With producers from europe or producers From america And there’s lots of partnerships across The andes as well with argentina and Chile So a really kind of diverse thing and Then from the current century Um obviously just a few things to Highlight so production has doubled Between 1995 and 2017 but Interestingly wine consumption in chile Itself Is decreasing so you have the you know The The production side increasing but Actual local consumption Going down so obviously that means a lot Of production is being exported that is The vast majority of chilean wine Goes abroad and equally as well as this Sort of Increase in production you’re also Seeing new boundaries being pushed so They’re Exploring viticulture and sort of new Frontiers i’m going to touch on some of
These sort of new and Very sparsely planted but what i found Really interesting areas so They’re sort of maturing in their wine Journey they’re planting new New varieties or rediscovering some of The old ones really going quality Focused And and adapting and innovating in new Areas Right a little bit of chilli today i Wanted to show one picture that That wasn’t a vineyard so that you can See a little bit of the country Behind it as well because for me it was My first time to chilly into santiago This is A picture from santiago so i wanted to Show a little bit of You know what’s outside the vineyard Regions as well Just a few figures uh sorry if you can Hear the sirens It is london and a lot of activity on a Tuesday obviously So 137 000 hectares of vineyard in chile At the moment And it kind of fluctuates in production Between 9 and 30 million hectares Come very year because of the effects of The el nino It’s the fourth largest exporter in the World so it really kind of highlights How important export markets are for
Chilean wine 70 is exported and i’ve listed that the Top five Markets that chilean wines go so you’ve Got china And there might obviously be a Readjustment of this after Covid’s and lots of current kind of Economic social political um things Going on at the moment but this is where It stood Uh when i was visiting so china us japan Uk and brazil were the top Five export markets in order And there’s a lot of consolidation in Terms of production there as well eighty Percent Of chilean wine is produced by four big Companies you’ve got country toro that Were mentioned earlier santa rita And the oldest santa carolina and san Pedro So a lot of consolidation they’ll do a Whole range these producers They’ll have vineyards in lots of the Different areas and they’ll also buy Grapes from a lot of smaller growers Um but equally to canterette that you’ve Also got movi Which is basically an association of Independent growers as well this is Established more recently in 2009 There’s 12 members with 35 different Wineries between them
And they produce around 1 million Bottles so obviously a lot smaller but It just goes to show there is everything Represented from These really big companies to sort of Smaller More individual interests as well um And i just wanted to highlight some of The kind of current things that I really sort of found fascinating when I visited Obviously climate change this is an Issue for lots of countries or the the World at the moment and particularly in Chile And the the way this is characterizing Itself is drought And i was quite struck with how dry some Of the vineyards Were and obviously rainfall is is Generally decreasing Um as we as we go forward and so this is An issue because obviously Viticulture needs rainfall And water but equally so do other crops And People so there’s there’s more pressure On on the water supply And also uh chile is very sort of Biologically diverse there’s a lot of Endemism which is You know species that um That originate in chile they don’t exist Naturally in other parts of the world
So there’s a real sort of biodiverse a Lot of biodiversity In chile a lot of interesting sort of Plants and animals and creatures That you don’t get in other parts of the World and one of their goals was to To become carbon natural so just a sort Of general look at The kind of climate and some of the the Natural influences uh on chile All right i wanted to show this map just Because um It just kind of really shows you how Long and thin Chili is compared to some of the other Countries of south america So chile if you’re not sure is this Little area here Right sort of down on the the left and So it really is obviously a place with All different sort of climates and Extremes uh if you go North that is the desert the atacama Desert uh one of One of the driest desert in the world so Very dry the sort of more north you go In chile Um if you go the opposite and go really Fast out you’re going down to Patagonia and basically after that after You leave land the next stop is Antarctica On the west you’ve got the pacific ocean And again nothing till you get to new
Zealand and then on the east you’ve got The massive dividing range of the andes That borders chile and argentina so it Really is pretty isolated chile this is Why they’ve never Had phylloxera there as a wine growing Region and but you’ve you know you’ve Got these very diverse climates Uh throughout from north to south and Through east to west And i wanted to to highlight some of These climatic influences so Um you can kind of see here in the Diagrams hopefully This is the narrow strip of chile it’s Kind of divided you’ve got the andes on The east Which obviously a very tall barrier But you’ve also then got the sort of Valleys in the middle And the the valleys do obviously the Rivers kind of run east to west to the The ocean but you’ve also got this large Sort of central valley that kind of runs Through Between the andes on the east and then Also the coastal range on the west by The pacific So all these valleys that you see on Wine labels like maipo Uh cachapua calchagua which are in the Rappel valley kuroko molly Um they’re all sort of part of this Bigger
Long valley that just kind of runs Through this the central area of chile And then you’ve got these cooling Influences so on the east of the andes You’ve got cold air that will sink Down and obviously if you’re planting Your vineyards on the slopes and going Up in terms of altitude Temperatures will be decreasing that Will give wines more acidity more Freshness of their style Equally on the west you’ve got the Pacific ocean which is very cold it’s Literally coming up with current from The whole Humboldt current from the antarctica so The water temperature is cold When we visited casablanca i know some Some crazy mw’s that went for an early Morning Swim in the sea i wasn’t one of those i Stayed in bed For a little bit longer it was a bit too Chilly for me But yes you’ve got really kind of cold Water that’s coming up um From from the depths of the sea so that Does provide some really cool breezes And fogs for these coastal areas that is Very important For determining what great varieties and Styles of wine they produce there And so you start to see these specific Labeling terms on bottles of wine so
Costa being the coast so from areas that Are cooled by the pacific Entre cordelleras is the central area so Between you know the two mountain ranges Which is sometimes flatter sometimes Warmer but it really varies and you do Still Have some elevation and different Expositions Throughout and then you’ve got andes Which is obviously um The eastern side on the andes and Benefiting from those cool Uh breezes cool air sinking from the Undies and and obviously some elevation If you’re up in the foothills So it’s a really really diverse uh Country and these are just some of the Regions the map i know is a little bit Unclear but just to kind of highlight The breadth of regions throughout um i’m Going to start by Talking about the central valley this is So the central region covers all this Area here around santiago some of the Original vineyard areas and i’ll dive Into these in a little bit more detail Places like cachapuan maipo etc But i’m also going to talk about some of The sort of frontiers that people Are planting up here in huasco which is Much further north in Atacama region which is obviously near The desert and equally vineyards all the
Way down here In the south you’ve got the south region And then even further south the austral Region And we did visit uh we flew down to Concepcion down here in the south the Second largest city In chile and visited a tata as well so i Am going to be talking about these Range of areas covering the whole kind Of length and breadth Of chili right first of all though i Have to talk about Cabernet sauvignon and if some of you Have watched my previous webinars You will know it’s one of my my favorite Grapes i did do a Webinar on cabernet sauvignon and this Is the most widely planted Black grape in chile simply because Um it was obviously imported by by the French people but it grows really really Well in this climate you’ve got A generally warm sunny dry climate that Really suits this late ripening Thick skin black grape variety that Likes some warmth And it’s made in a whole range of styles So you’ve got everything i’m sure you’ve Seen some you know inexpensive Supermarkets Cabernet sauvignon just produced at high Yields from some of the warmer flatter Sites
But equally some of the top really kind Of icon wines of chili are also using This black grape variety It ages really well it can produce some Amazing aromas and structure For age-ability as well so there’s Everything from inexpensive to you know The Icon wines of chile and different styles As well so you can have single varietal Wines just a hundred percent cabinet Sauvignon or also blended you’ve got Great varieties like common air and Chili malbec camone franc Pretty veda pretty video sorry So you see a lot of the kind of bordeaux Style blends and also other grapes as Well It does express to our wow so you do see Differences in the stars sometimes more Floral in certain areas or Riper kind of fuller bodied styles from Warmer areas so it will express where It’s coming from And i’m going to start by looking at Some of the key areas where cabernet Sauvignon is Um the most widely planted grapes so in That central valley region what we Talked about maipo Kashupual and kolchagua these were the First places that we visited having Touched down in santiago So i’m going to start with maipo this is
The region that is closest To the capital of santiago so very easy To get to And you know historically very important Because they started planting the Vineyards around the capital so that Wealthy people in santiago Could buy wine you’ve got grapes you had A ready market for your For your wines you can see there Cabernet sauvignon is about half Over half of the total hectareage of Microsoft over 13 000 hectares total Nearly 7 000 of that cabernet sauvignon So just to kind of show the dominance Of this black grape and obviously being One of the original areas close to the Capital it does still have a lot of old Vineyards in my opinion we know old Vines Give concentration flavor concentration And aromatics to your wine this is my Own photo i thought i did very well here With my nice Panoramic view uh in the santa rita Vineyards um And you can see we’re quite high up here So you can see um Some of the sort of foot tails uh in the Background but you can also see how dry It Is um you know it was very dusty that Day it was blowing in your eyes Quite sandy there wasn’t lots of
Greenery around this area like you see In other regions so um And this is you know central valley is One of the warmer drier parts of chile So this was yes santa rita one of the Oldest wineries in one of those top four That i mentioned earlier And they obviously have have vineyards Um And can make wines throughout but this a Lot of their holdings on my pro They have a 600 hectare estate say well 3 000 hector estates 600 hectares Planted And they’re really focusing on cabernet Sauvignon they want to focus on this Signature great they think that’s what They do really really well They have different clones seven Different clones of cabernet sauvignon That they’re working with to express Different styles and adapt to the Different terrains Because even in in the valley you’re Going to have different saw types Different expositions Some facing north south east west Etcetera So they’re working um with different Clones to express That and 73 so the bulk of their Plantings are On cabernet sauvignon and then just to Show you the diversity you can see it
Goes Everything here from five meters above Sea level So 700 meters so this valley that really Sort of stretches from the andes through The entre cordolaris to the costa region Um is going to again obviously produce Really varied wines Um where we were here was sort of Up sort of more on the eastern side Going up into the hills a little bit So you’re going to produce everything And they will produce the whole range From just sort of more inexpensive wines To some of their top wines like Casserole And depending on the location and the Quality of the grapes To give you a little bit of idea about Their conditions in my post so it’s Pretty warm January is their hottest month because Obviously we’re in the southern Hemisphere here so It gets up to about 30 degrees celsius Um and as you can see i’ve just sort of Highlighted the bit the rainfall just to Kind of emphasize what we talked about Earlier about Drought so previously they used to get An average of 300 millimeters of rain For a year The recently that dropped down to 168 Millimeters this is well below what you
Need Generally for viticulture so they will Irrigate 85 percent of chile Chile’s vineyards are irrigated and in 2019 they only received 63 millimeters It was a severe drought in the region So that obviously affects your vineyard You get lots Smaller yields um you know If if you can produce a yield at all and So That can obviously be very damaging if You’re not producing as much you need to Sell it for higher prices so this is This can be quite detrimental to to the Volumes in your supply chain All right just moving on a little bit Further south so the next region south From waipa is cacha pual And there’s me looking very goofily Happy standing At a beautiful vineyard in cash april i Think this is either before or after a Very delicious lunch But again i wanted to see you can see Here in the background you’ve got We are on the slopes for your fact you Can see down onto some of the flatter Vineyards but you can also see the Vineyards kind of Creeping up the sides of the the Mountains east west and and in front of You as well We’re looking out towards the the
Pacific so the mountain range in the Background Is there’s the coastal mountain range so You get a little bit of a feel for some Of the different Um aspects and exposures of chile Kashup well um slightly more production Than my pro so one of the big key areas Here over 13 300 hectares planted but again You know diverse because you’ve got Different grapes cabernet sauvignon Important but also things like syrup Cabernet franc malbec Etc you’ve got different vineyards Different soil types different styles Right let’s um go through so this is Where we visited San pedro again this is one of the very Big producers but this Where we visited was where they sort of Focusing On some of their premium wines and again I wanted to highlight this because i Think too Too often people just see chili as that Sort of inexpensive supermarket wine but There is so much more to it and the Wines we tasted here Were incredible um so they are part of The larger vspt wine group which is the Second largest exporter in chile Formed in 2008 when san pedro uh Joined with vina tarapaka and they have
Wineries in both chile and argentina But where i was standing on that Vineyard and the wines we tasted is Their sort of premium range so these are Vines that are planted more recently in 1998 Uh where i was in that picture was 485 Meters above sea level so you have got Some altitude hit you’re going to get Some cool breezes coming in Uh cool bring not coming in sorry coming Down from the andes we are very much on The kind of eastern side here Um of the the castle power range so Towards the andes And it goes even higher up into the Hills And the other benefit of this is you get A really big diana range so it’s warm During the day it’s sunny look plenty of You know warmth to ripen those grapes But at night it’s going to shift right Down to kind of 8 10 degrees And below 10 degrees the vine stops Ripening the grapes so it gives it a Break Essentially it has a little bit of a Rest it preserves the acidity in the Grapes And it’ll slow down the ripening and Then obviously it can go again the next Day and ripen the flavors ripen the Sugar and the tannins so you get really Good quality grapes
Um from this this benefit of altitude We’ve got different saw types and again Just to highlight some of the kind of Trends that we saw throughout chile they Were picking earlier so Looking to retain that freshness looking To kind of Restrain alcohol levels and get kind of Fresher fruit character rather than Baked jammy fruits And equally a lot of places were kind of Using less oak or Larger formats so food here which are Larger bars rather than All just the newberry so you know just Sort of minimizing Um the oak or dialing back the oak a Little bit as well Um and these were blends so cabinets Are very important as we talked about But also using cabinet frank which will Add herbaceous characteristics Sarah for that classic kind of spice Notes petty verdot which gives a lot of Color and tannin And carbonaire which is a kind of Chilean speciality again which Gives those lovely kind of herbaceous um Green characteristics As well so these were the five ones that We tasted you can see there’s there’s Different Altairs they’re real top one they make Less than 400 cases of it and it was a
Really incredible Uh cabernet kind of bordeaux style blend You had cabardo hornos which is a Hundred percent cabernet from kashapur Um but these also make some common air Down in molly Uh and a syrup in elky which i’ll talk About as well So just to highlight this some of the Really is a premium range It’s not just about you know your Inexpensive chili and merlot Also in cash approach we visited a Really kind of modern Um experiential winery i would say this Is called vic And you can see the pictures there the Wine and very Very stand out labels and equally the Second ones there that you can see The miyakaya and le la cui belle i mean That’s really going to stand out on a Wine shop Artistic label the whole bottle covered In this Uh art imagery so this again i wanted to Highlight the kind of real Modern um emergence In chile of really high-end wineries Really uh you know not just looking at The wine but they have a massive passion For art for hospitality this incredible Hotel there Um spy you can stay incredible
Experience so this just shows a little Bit of the The amazing winery called vic um It’s in millah valley which is in Kashapul and again sort of going up more Towards The the andes so you very much get some Cooling influences from those cool Breezes coming down there The mountains and this is really good Again for your grapes the bunches here Never get hotter than 28 degrees If the grapes can get too hot you can Get sort of certainly vibrant jammy Flavors or even sunburn but Here you’ve got some moderation so it’s Warm enough for these black grapes but It doesn’t get Too hot so it’s kind of perfect Conditions Equally in the winery they’re really Employing some sort of More modern or technological wine making And harvesting so they’re harvesting During the night Between 1am and 7am so some night owls Out there picking the grapes And this means the grapes can come in Cold so they can do Some cold soaking so basically uh Leaving the juice in contact Um leaving leaving the grapes in this Express Extracts aroma flavor and some color
Basically before you sort of go into Your your fermentation They’re very selective of what grapes They use so really high-end Wine making here just picking the best Healthiest grapes for their top premium Wines And then also sort of using amphora so In some ways chili has kind of gone Full circle you know amphora was the Traditional vessels that they would Use um historically and when the spanish Came And then they kind of went through Stainless steel a lot of new oak and Then they’re sort of going back To some of these amphora and fujas etc And you can see here again that trend to Just kind of reduce the use of new oak a Little bit so the vic in 2013 used 100 New french oak as it’s kind of the trend On a lot of these big concentrated Um icon wines and then today it’s around 65 So you’re still using the oat to give You spice to complement the fruit But just sort of dialing it back a Little bit so a little A little bit more restrained in style Okay moving south again to conchagua so And this was amazing this is at um A vineyard where they did a whole Display for us of traditional sort of Dancing with your
Your your horses and flying a flag and It was incredible as the sun went went Down and we had a kind of traditional Barbecue Uh next to the vineyards uh this is at Casa silva So called chagywa as a region again Similar in size maipo Uh kashyapalan all very big production Areas in the central valley region so Over 34 000 hectares here And again cabernet sauvignon’s still Important but also here this is where i Want to talk about Common air your chilean speciality But there’s also other red blends and Even white grapes you know Up in those cooler reaches of the andes Or coastal areas You’ve got things like sauvignon blanc Chardonnay etc So at casa silva we are again weapons of The eastern side Of the culture in the andes region um They do produce common air so eight Percent of chile is Planted with carbon air and 57 percent Of that is in the rappel valley which is The contagion cache pile valley Combined so you can see this is where it Likes Uh to grow um and it does like the Warmth coming in it’s traditionally from From france and it likes the the
Conditions in chile you’ve got lots of Sunshine you’ve got warmth it’s Relatively dry Um but equally they’ve established more Recently that it does like those cool Nights it doesn’t like it hot All the time otherwise it can get sort Of a little bit overly alcoholic and you Lose some of the fragrance and the Perfume So this is perfect where you’ve got a Little bit of elevation here you’ve got This diurnal shift You’ve got the warmth during the day to Ripen becoming there but you’ve also got This respite at night that really helps Retain some of that perfume aromatics And this you know the acid backbone and Kind of fine italians Um equally don’t have to have 100 Carbonate they can blend it And as well as cabernet sauvignon here You’ve got some great wines coming from Malbec Cabernet franc and syrup and you can see Singularity Expressions of these as well so again Diversity as you can see here on the map Here this is the Conchague region here and again you can See it stretches all the way from the Pacific inland And then up to the andes so you’re going To have a range of sights there you’ve
Got flatter sites perhaps sort of more Irrigated High you know perhaps machine harvested For some of your more inexpensive wines But then you’ve also got this Exploration of some of the hillside Sites Higher altitude sites where the vines Will Naturally produce less you’ve got less Fertile sites on the on the hillsides You’ll reduce the vigor that gives you Better concentration in your grapes and You can make more expressive wines And again they’re innovating with the Wine making as well so concrete eggs Food amphora that we’ve talked about Already any of these sort of modern wine Making that we’re seeing in other parts Of the world very much being employed In chile as well Right i couldn’t uh talk about chili Without talking about some of the Release Icon wines that basically have Led the way i think in terms of Recognition For chile you know it is not just about Sort of good value ones but there are Incredible age-worthy Um wines so this is not all of them by Any means but i’ve just listed some of The key wines Don malcolm which we visited which it
Was the first to be released in 1987. This is Contrary tora’s top wine you have casa Real Um from santa rita shortly following That You had senna which i will also talk About this is one of Rasus’s top top wines and the most Expensive wine from chile you’ve got Montes m’s and The top wine of montez some another Incredible winery Alma viva which was a venture Uh with the uh ross charles and you’ve Got clara powder as well so Um you know some of the just the top Names and there’s lots more that have Come Since there but this is um you know just The beginning of Chile really showing the quality the Capabilities of the country Um and the age ability as well we were Able to do some Amazing vertical tastings tasting wines 20 30 years old and again i think i Wanted to highlight that these some of These ones have amazing Aging capacity they can evolve just like Your top border or Tuscan wines or wherever you know what Other whatever other wines you have in Your cellar
So this is um we visited the erazurus Winery they have holdings in In in a few different places but this is The original Uh winery founded in 1879 By don maximiano and this is in an Amazing place called pancake I love the name of that pancake in akon Kagua so this is North of santiago um And it’s again this valley stretches so You’ve got mount aquancargo which is the Highest peak in the western hemisphere Really really high up in the andes and The aconcagua valley then stretches east To west 130 kilometers so following the Aconcagua river And flowing to the pacific and you can See akon kagura costa Areas we’re more in land here in pancake Where the winery is is based and so you Can see it’s quite dry So and you can see in that picture at The top there The very green areas and lovely foliage And and sort of plants that is very much Irrigated and then if you look in the Background at the hilltops in the Mountains you can see it’s very dry So you can see the kind of marked Difference of where you’ve obviously Added water to help sustain the vineyard Life So it is very dry here it’s got similar
Degree days to bordeaux Hence their you know reliance on Bordeaux grape varieties and And making really good sort of bordeaux Styles of wines from cabernet sauvignon And other grape varieties But you’ve got a real diurnal shift You’re not by the coast here like you’re On bordeaux so again you’re going to get Warmth during the day but then cool Nights and that again Really helps preserve the acidity in These wines really give Them some freshness and backbone and Really lovely kind of acid tanning Structure as well So just to highlight a little bit of Kind of the history of lazarus so Um so the the the winery as i said where We were And this is a very picture of a very Modern winery but they do still have the Original house and that was the original Winery back in 1879 And then they said 1983 was the kind of Rebirth so they will kind of start to Drive Quality and these premium wines from Vino aziris Um 1995 was the first vintage of senna And so this is a partnership between Eduardo chadwick and robert mondavi So again that sort of investment you’ve Got monday a really famous
Californian um winemaker And eduardo chadwick of um other rashers Um and then in 1999 they also made Veneto chadwick so The fruit the vineyard for veneto Chadwick is not actually in aconcagua That’s In maypo in the puente alto which i’ll Talk about separately but The vineyard for senna and the vineyard For the don max mignano wines former Azureus are both in akon kagua And then in 2004 you had what was called The berlin tasting so This was where they pitched uh the best Chilean wines Against those sort of top bordeaux wines So your first ghost of lafitte Margot and equally tuscany as well As the liar and they did a blind tasting With a lot of Very famous um reputed wine Professionals And they tasted blind um and Surprisingly Venada chadwick from the 2000 vintage And so Very young wine from young vineyards Came out Uh top in first place and senna from 2001 vintage came out In second so um beating you know lafitte And margo And wines like this so i feel really um
Put chili wines in their top wines on The map that they could compete on this Level that they are just as You know um just as quality driven as Some of these Very famous names just a little bit About this winery obviously Um you can see a little bit of it there Come very very modern But they are trying to do the best wine Making possible but also thinking about Sustainability so gravitational flow Sort of minimizing inputs where possible Again reducing the new oak which we’ve Seen as a trend throughout chile Um and this is where they make uh their Three top ones so senna don max miano And the vanita chadwick And then the other top winery that we Visited um Again very early on because it was very Near santiago so on day one this was a Real treat Uh to visit was don melkor so this is Country tourist topped Uh wine and the first sort of real sort Of icon wine from chilean in back in 87 And since then they’ve also launched Alma viva so this is the partnership of Country touro with The ross trials and they are in my po But on these really old um alluvial Terraces so very poor souls Higher up on the mapo river and so you
Know even within my per even within The entre caudaleras region there is Differences in elevation differences in Tewa Which really give you and the potential For some top top quality wines You’ve got some cold winds that help to Moderate the air and again that diurnal Range Again you can see that favoring of Cabernet sauvignon here because we’re in Maipo in the puente alto Uh sub area of maipo but again Incorporating some of those other french Grapes like cabernet franc merlot petit Verdo Etc they have 151 different parcels so They’ve Mapped out the vineyard according to the Different saws and different areas And they pick them and they harvest them And they vinify them separately so Real attention to detail going on here In the winery I am going to make you jealous now i got To taste These this sort of vertical of different Vintages going from 87 the first vintage Up to 2016 so it’s an incredible tasting That just showed The age-ability of these top chili wines Based on Cabernet sauvignon and i even got to Taste a wine called
Liquid cabernet sauvignon which is What’s in this picture here which is a Sweet wine And so basically where they they sort of Make it like a port they fortify Fortified to retain Some sugar and it was 100 made from Cabernet And they only make 800 bottles so i was Incredibly Humble to be able to taste that with our Pudding when we visited And don merkel so just to you know Show what is going on here it’s not as i Say it’s not just about some of those Supermarket ones there’s incredible Uh quality and attention to detail All right that’s the kind of central Areas we’re now going to look at some of The Cooler areas basically so one of the key Cooling influences as we talked about is The pacific so i wanted to highlight Here a couple of the coastal areas Um and i thought this map here is quite Useful because you can see the Importance of this Coastal mountain range so the casablanca Valley Uh runs sort of from the coast but also Inland and sort of then behind some of This coastal range so it’s cool You are getting these cool breezes off The pacific but you’re a little bit
Perhaps more sheltered Than on the other side where you’re Right directly influenced on the pacific Uh where you are in san antonio and the Sub region now of laida So casablanca is 30 kilometers here to The pacific You’ve got again those lovely cool Nights that slows down the metabolism of The grape Some cooling influences of fog and it’s In this sort of corridor so this Corridor between the coastal range here As you go towards the pacific and then Later san antonio here you can see it’s Directly sort of opened up To that cooling influence so on the Western side of the coastal mountain Range You’ve got the full impact of the fog Here as well But both you know quite a warm latitude At 33 degrees But the pacific here completely kind of Makes these areas a lot cooler than they Would be So perfect for great varieties like Pinot noir sauvignon blanc Cooler expressions of chardonnay um some Some really you know very different here To your cabernet central Uh wines of the central valley so we Visited a winery called vermonte here in Casablanca
And it looks beautifully sunny it was it Was very warm but You could really feel the breeze and the Breeze was cold you know um especially First thing in the morning You definitely needed a cardigan or a Jumper despite us going when it was Pretty warm in spring so You can really feel the difference in Temperature here And again the swings from 30 odd degrees During the day to only Eight degrees at night really um Set this region apart and you you Definitely sort of get that cooling Influence Um the breezes also as well as providing Cool influence are really good for the Health of the grapes as well so After any rainfall they’ll dry out the Bunches and maintain The health of the grapes as well There’s no water here which is unusual Most of the other valleys are called a Valley because you’ve got a river That runs through them you know from the Andes to the sea but casablanca there Isn’t there’s no river Here uh so they do if they irrigate they Do need to pump the water from Underground sources and here you’ve got As i said sauvignon blanc pinot noir and Equally some merlot and serum some of The more kind of restrained peppery
Styles of syrup And this winery is certified organic and You do get a lot of organic viticulture In chile because it is dry so Naturally you don’t get the kind of Pressure of some of the fungal diseases That you get in wetter areas All right just gonna highlight uh winery San antonio Um which so this is right in that Coastal areas only 15 kilometers from The pacific so very much Influenced by the pacific and i wanted To use this Winery to highlight uh biodynamics again So again this is something That is increasing throughout the world And chile is no exception to That but it’s still relatively small so This is a family-owned Winery and they were set for certified Organic in 2002 and then became fully Biodynamic in 2012. Um and there’s not that many so there’s Only 10 Sort of wineries or less than 10 Certified biodynamic insulin More than 130 producers so not everyone Is kind of extending Formal organics to biodynamics but it is Something that you Are seeing here people as we said Earlier they Do really care about the the climate
About the the biodiversity about all Those sort of plants and having Having a healthy ecosystem so there’s All these sort of preparations that they Do but a lot of things like having Animals um as well as as the vines that They will naturally eat the grass So you don’t have to use herbicides for Example you can also then use their Manure To make the soil healthy and improve Microbial life and all of this gives you A better Biodiversity in your vineyard healthier Vines that are basically Stronger as a result so Um here you can see some of the sort of More weird and wonderful preparations That they do So and i think the cow horns in the Middle there is the kind of Image of biodynamics they fill these With manure And that really improves the the Microbial life of the soil On the right here you’ve got valerian Flowers so this is used in the 507 Preparation And they basically mill the flowers and Use them As a compost and they help to improve The Availability of phosphorus in the soil And then you’ve got silica
As well and a lot of these will be Sprayed so they’ll mix the preparation With water like this in a big barrel and Then spray it onto the vineyards Right so going now into a little bit More unknown territory i wanted to Highlight Some of the more what i call extremes of Chile so Right in the north and right in the South but equally east and west And just to show these sort of vineyards Areas That a lot of i had never heard of Before before i visited Because they are you know small Production they recently planted with People Innovators uh that are basically going And planting these lesser-known regions Um and this is because i think obviously We saw Chile is reliant on exports it has a lot Of well-known great varieties Um but ultimately labor costs Are increasing in chile so energy costs And so they need to start You know getting more for the wine to Make it viable so by Doing that if you have a different area Or a different great variety You can sort of market it as a point of Difference So in the north this is basically like
Desert viticulture you’ve got a picture There Of a vineyard in the atacama desert Really far north In 2019 rainfall up here with zero it’s Usually as low as 20 to 50 millimeters So incredibly dry Um but the andes are so high here that You do get snow And that will melt and you can get also The rainfall that allows you to use that Water To to to facilitate great production A couple of these areas right in the North so copiapo valley which is the Most Most northernmost wine valley and just South of that huasco which is basically A new Frontier it’s 550 kilometers North of santiago it’s about a good 12-hour drive this is how far North we’ve gone from that central area We started in And you’ve got a company there called Vinoventiscaro so planting things like Pinot noir chardonnay sauvignon Blanc these kind of cooler climate Grapes in these real extremes Um up in the north this is also a little Bit Further south but still in the north and Perhaps you might have heard of um As elky and limari so elky is where a
Lot of Great production for pisco comes from And i definitely had a good few pisco Styles While i was there and this is what you Can see in the second Picture it’s really high altitude so This um definitely offsets the the sort Of warmth in terms and the latitude And you get some great cool climates Syria there we Recently had a bottle from bananas I could never pronounce it alcohols um And it was incredible Very kind of peppery restrained Beautiful syrup And then lamari which is also coastal a Lot of small Producers and they really impacted by This fog called the kamancha Chaka fog so i’m really good sort of Renowned chardonnay for this face a Linear style of chardonnay Going south you’ve also got um quite Different Areas but equally you know extreme and That you’re going really really fast South in chile to unknown areas and it’s A lot wetter Down in the south there’s a lot more Rainfall so fungal diseases can be an Issue But you’ve got the benefits of latitude Bringing much cooler temperatures
And because rainfall is an issue in Chile then this can be beneficial if the Other areas are getting drier then Let’s move south so you have malaco Which is only tiny 61 hectares but Starting to be explored In the australia region you have the Sauno valley and beyond just 30 hectares But Starting to see plantings of things like Sauvignon blanc chardonnay pinot noir And riesling so even some of your Aromatic Varieties as well and there’s just just I’ve highlighted there a few really new Up-and-coming areas that maybe you’ll See going forward like lake ranco down In the suno valley Uh chilo island which they planted some Vinyl vines on as recently as 2017 And chili chico which i just sounds Brilliant like little chilly Planted in 2012 so just to showcase Um you know what’s happening currently Where they’re heading All right and then focusing on where i Visited which is etata But also next door you have biobio so This is when i flew down to Concepcion and for me this is a real A real highlight of the trip because um I don’t think we were expecting to go And it just was so different to Um you know the sort of really
Well-known regions and wines where Cabernet is king it’s a very different Area Um so a lot more rainfall here um cooler Temperatures And the pacific’s still very important And you’ve got a lot of ungrafted vines A lot of bush finds A lot of really old wines uh originating Here so they did Plant around here uh traditionally and Then it’s sort of Now being reinvigorated and people are Really doing a quality focus on some of The wines Yes there’s still a lot of you know base Wine or inexpensive wine but there’s Also This now influx of smaller growers doing Amazing things So this is where you see some perhaps Great varieties that you don’t Associate with chili so uh pies which Actually you would associate chili this Is one of the original Spanish grapes but again now being Reinvented to show Quality and some more unusual ones it’s Easy to grow but quite hard to vinify It’s a little bit tricky You don’t get too much color and it you Get uh quite low acidity And you can see there’s some really old Gnarly bush vines
You’ve got karinyan or karina um And this again traditionally from france So a later arrival But here really giving structures like Very much Tannic acid high yields but again on These Older vines that’s going to restrict the Yield and this is where you can start to Get some really quality expressions And then since which i really enjoyed There were some fabulous wines got to Taste from sinso A lot of it is growing down in a tattoo You can see this is my own picture here Of some incredible bush finds In itae so you know it’s a labor of love You have to hand pick and hand tend These These small vines very old and so Really giving some flavor and Concentration it’s quite similar to Grenache since i said lots of red Fruit flavor characteristics but a Little bit more acidity Fresher a little bit more perfumed in Style so these are some of the sort of Um really yeah exciting wines for me From chile so using Either these face sort of historical but Reinvented styles of pace or Um focusing on some of the the less Common french varietals So and this was uh leo
Erazo in down in itae this is him here He Dug this soil pit just to show uh ozmw’s The different sword type so we were Incredibly honored That the effort they went to was him and A lot of the small local producers Welcomed us to the vineyards and um it Was an incredibly humbling experience They were so touched that all these mw’s Had come to visit them Um and we were just you know so pleased So pleased to be there Really old vines these bush vines that Have talked about A lot of independent growers and and They talked quite openly about the Struggle you know there are a lot of Big companies in chile as we mentioned Sometimes they get bought out or beat Down on price Um and he actually got quite emotional Talking about it so it was so Touching for us to visit this area and See you know What these people were doing really Trying to drive quality and make Interesting wines Sometimes you know up against it Basically in terms of economics Um and this was two of his wines that we Tasted one last curvus which is Sin so formal granite and clay so it’s a Really kind of lovely
Plump kind of juicy red fruit quite soft Tannins so this is The picture on the right where you can See the kind of more brown soil the clay Soil And then we contrasted that with another Wine which Um has a bright yellow label called Amigo piedra and this Was since so from the granite kind of Harder compacted soil which you can see Me holding there on the left and this Gave a much more kind of Linear stylus instead so kind of fine Italians more acid Structure kind of fresher crunchy red Fruit so it’s fascinating just you know These two vineyards side by side Different sort types Both old vines both beautiful Expressions And just to see the the work and the Ambition of these these wine makers down In nata was Was a real highlight for me And then i also wanted to talk about Very briefly with morley So this is part of the central valley Region but the most southerly area And a lot of production so again Everything goes here a lot of you got Cabinet you’ve got Big bulk wines you’ve got niche ones You’ve got everything
Um but i wanted to use this as an Example to talk about caring Because this is where it is the most Dominant the most plantings of carrion Are found Still small only 811 hectares but this Is where You’re starting to see some really Interesting wines that i’ve pictured There for you Uh garage ones do some great wines ps Garcia a couple of really interesting Producers And that i believe some of them you can Get in the uk Um and they really um also look at old Vine ticks as you know karen young Can be quite vigorous and it needs that Restriction of yield to make the better Quality wines And they’ve got a lot of easily kind of 100 year old vines Um down here some lesser than that But it really gives them flavor and Balance And there’s a basically a collective Called vino which is 15 producers that Have formed together Since 2010 um and and Enforced their own rules so they’re Basically making wines from old vines They’re they have to be over 30 years Old all the vines They’re dry farming so you can see here
You’re further south in molly It is wetter and that’s important you Wouldn’t be able to dry farm and a lot Of the Central areas that we talked about Earlier old bush vines And and the blend has to be at 85 Percent Minimum can ya and then have two years Aging again before release so These are different producers as you can See in the labor you’ve got garage you Have ps garcia you have val de viesto But you will always see on the the label The term vino So if you again if you want to try Something a little bit different Push your expectations from chile and Challenge your stereotypes then And look at some of these wines Okay i thought i would never get here i Definitely think i deserve a drink Um so um just as an excuse i bought some Wine to taste unfortunately i couldn’t Find Some of the ones i tried there i think It’s just because a lot of them are Smaller production And perhaps they just it’s easier to Export to some of the other south American countries or even north america Than to get them in the uk But um so i couldn’t find lea razarus or Another
Producer called tres that i tried that i Really enjoyed but i did find this with Claudio fu which um i really enjoyed so This i got From the theater of wine but i think Liberty imported so Um and they and they do some other wines If you’re interested And i thought this encaptured the sort Of spirit of These pioneering places the different Blends some of the sort of Crazy things that are going on in chile That you perhaps don’t always Know about so uh they call it claudia fu A crazy man Um pedro paris the viticulturist he’s Quite famous he’s Done quite a few different projects Really interesting taiwa driven wine And francois masala pakalaytan the Winemakers and then albert cousin who Does the the business side of things And it’s a really interesting blend so You’ve got 27 common air 25 percent Carnano Canyon 11 petit sierra 10 sin so 10 malbec 10 pi and 7 0 so here they are Picking grapes they’re Really looking at different kind of Flavors looking for complexity and Expression Um just small vineyards 19 hectic Hectares of vineyards um some of their
Own some fruit from very sort of Selected growers that they they work With Um and these are vineyards in the Further south and east so Again looking for vineyards on the Slopes those poor soils that are going To get better quality vines more Concentrated grapes Um on these really particular kind of Ancient soils some of the The soil types here are you know Millions of years old And they don’t irrigate so again these Sort of naturally lower yielding Dry farmed vines and this is from 2014 So it’s a very dry year you’ve got low Yields but that again naturally Increases the concentration And i was drinking this recently and so It was lovely to see a chilean wine with A bit of age on it And had some nice sort of developments And savory notes coming through but Really nice bright fresh acidity really Kind of fresh fruit profile Lovely fine textured tannins um i just Really enjoyed it and it was still maybe What’s about 15 16 pound uh from the theater of wine so Chili still does great value but you Don’t have to doesn’t have to just be The inexpensive wines You can get some amazing really kind of
Interesting to our driven wines as well Look for different grape varieties look For new producers look for some of these Perhaps less known wine regions and as i Said yeah a little bit of time you know 15 to 20 new oak um But not too much there as well All right um that is everything i had to Say this is just a final Little bit there’s some resources for You there so the wines of chile websites They use for the movie website for that Independent group and then the vigno Website Equally you can look up any of the other Producers there’s me looking Very happy in my old vineyard down in The tata And i should now um have a look at some Of the q and a So let me see if how If i can approach some of these Questions so um One of these was what in your opinion is The region that produces the most Interesting complex and globally Recognized wine So it’s a little bit split there i think Some of the most interesting are down in The staff that i was talking about for Me And these different blends and really um Different expressions But i wouldn’t say they’re so globally
Recognized so i think the global Recognition is those Really premium cabernet blends that we Saw but then Some of the sort of more quirky styles That i found really interesting coming From those those southern Areas so hopefully i’ve answered that Question for you Thank you um I’m not quite sure if i had a question Here say with consumption down What are they drinking in chile apart From pisco they are still drinking wine It’s just Um not not tons of it a lot of it sort Of more More inexpensive and like everywhere Beers cocktails Um are a part of the train Um sorry some of the questions were Obviously from earlier when i was Talking so i’m not sure what they relate To now uh Okay another question what which changes Are they implying in order to adapt to The climate change regarding planting Restocks On any other intervention apart from Irrigation yeah obviously you have to Irrigate Um but they are yeah going south where It’s wetter Planting different grape varieties or
Different clones that are Um you know more heat resistant Using the canopy management to try and Make it a little bit um cooler and Different root stocks as well that can Particularly work well in drought Conditions all of these things And just trying to use less water and at The you know At the moment at the at times um but yes We’re probably going to see a shift away From sort of lots of really really cheap Ones because you just can’t Uh afford it if there’s going to be Continuing pressure on water Okay um another question was can i Explain why Wines are not vegan um so that it really Depends throughout the world sometimes They use Um some products to fine wines which is Basically To get rid of any sort of very small Particles that could then form a Sediment and Traditionally use things like egg white Which is obviously not Vegan but you can use plant-based things And things so if A wine is labeled as vegan it’s just Saying that they’ve used a non Animal derived finding agent Okay Um there’s so many wines available in
The uk Um so if you’re looking for some Chili wines in supermarkets uh that i Would recommend Um look for some of these areas i used To work at majestic they used to do some Good sort of lumari or elky chilean Chardonnays and syrups and things like That Equally a lot of the independence here So smaller uh shops will do some of the Pepsi’s more independent producers and Smaller ranges so again just look out For Places like itata biabio up in lamari Later some of these sort of Um these areas but equally even in the Central valley there’s if you’re if You’re willing to pay around 15 pound There’s some great Cabernet sauvignon’s bordeaux star wines Just do a little bit of research about About your producer [Music] You can get a little bit of botrytis Issues That someone asked about the morning for But because it’s Warm and dry during the day that is Generally a good thing so You tend to get issues of rot if it’s Kind of humid all through the day but Having a little bit of fog in the Morning when it’s very hot is beneficial
It cools down the temperature And then it’s dry so um no It’s it’s not too much of an issue Patricia’s here um And you’ve also got the breezes as we Talked about in casablanca that come in And dry out the bunches of grapes so Really good for the health of the grapes Does chili produce sim fund out um i Didn’t taste any there there’s probably Someone planting it somewhere but it’s More of a north american speciality um [Music] Uh good question my tiny i’m describing Was linear Uh so it’s a little bit harder to Explain but if you think about sort of Shaped cell wine that’s a little bit More kind of streamlined so a bit more Focused sort of acid and turning Whereas a wine that’s really round and Rich would be sort of a little bit kind Of riper and fuller So i use linear to describe wines that Have a little bit more of a kind of acid Tanning backbone So a little bit more kind of upright if That helps but that’s quite a personal Description Uh what are garage wines that’s just the Brand that was in that picture so It’s not like garage wines they talk About bordeaux which are just really Small plots that that’s just a brand
Called garage you can have look them up Um Sorry i’m just reading another question Uh It’s quite a long one i think i answered That as we go so yes they are definitely Moving there’s a lot of sustainability People moving To organics biodynamics and Sustainability approaches Throughout Okay um [Music] I’ve got how do you rate the prospects Of single varietal syrup in chile and Which areas are most promising i really Like there’s a lot of single varietal Serum and particularly elky I would really look out for so um that’s The one we i talked about venados Alcohols um but there’s others um and That Is yeah really becoming renowned for Some some really top syrup Um all right Um i did see this question thank you uh Natasha um i was hoping to address some Of it but yes unfortunately i’m not an Importer otherwise i would love to Import some of these smaller producers Like pierce garcia there was some that i Couldn’t Couldn’t see um i think some of it is Just maybe smaller production anyway
These small producers say perhaps it’s Not viable For them to export all the way to the uk As i said local markets or south American or U.s markets are probably easier and less Expensive for them to get to But i would love to see them available Here um so If there is anyone out there importing a Smaller scale producers looking for Something Different then i would definitely Recommend some of these chilean Producers I’ve got a question what are they doing Internationally to shake off their Inexpensive high volume ones I’m why is chile are definitely doing a Lot of work to promote the diversity i Think you’ve got producers leave Leading the way as well showing the you Know the top end of the scale like cena And it’s just sometimes a bit of an Image in issue in the uk Because we have traditionally bought Chilean wine when it was this When it was just over this kind of Inexpensive volume lines And you know in japan in korea they Don’t have that That pre um that You know that already that kind of image So they’re doing very well there because
They’re just Tasting it on the quality so i think It’s not just chile’s fault i think That’s you know Certain markets have a certain image um And there’s always going to be some some Higher volume wines that i think they do Very well you know just for Everyday drinking at good price points But equally there’s so much more to Explore So i think um you know it has to come From our side as well that we have to Promote it People have to educate themselves about It and look out for these wines because There’s such Such diversity just like anywhere All right um All right uh the ones well i’m not sure About that question sorry All right i think i’m going to run out Of time here so Um I’m sorry if i didn’t get through all of Your Questions some i can’t really is sarah Better than carmene for chile Oh that’s a tough one and i think they Both have a place they’re very Different contrasting grape varieties so It depends what you’re looking for You know it depends which you which you Prefer um carmine
Definitely suits the sort of warmer Style so if it is getting warmer that’s Going to be Better in some areas equally soon is Going to be better in some of those Cooler areas that we talked about so It depends where you’re based Okay i can’t possibly get through all of The Questions but thank you all for Answering them Um i hope i have got through quite a few Of them Um and i you know in the slides there Were some of the producers i recommend i Talked about them so if you missed any Of that have you can watch it the Recording will be live From tomorrow thank you so much Everybody for attending i hope you Enjoyed and Hopefully you can all get to chilly in The not too distant future as well All right have a lovely evening thank You for watching