Chile: what’s hot on the Chilean wine scene
In a country marked by change, winemakers are pushing boundaries to uncover the potential of their wines. Peter Richards MW shines a light on the latest developments in both vineyard and winery, profiling some of the exciting projects driving current tren
The only thing that is constant, Greek philosopher Heraclitus reminds us, is change. The Chilean wine industry seems to be taking this maxim to extremes – a wine scene seemingly stuck on fast-forward, buckled into a thrilling rollercoaster ride of discovery, exploration, reinvention and experimentation.
So when Gillmore winemaker Andrés Sánchez tells me that ‘the idea is to change the Chilean wine scene completely in the next 30 years’, it doesn’t sound far-fetched. It sounds exciting.
Pinot Noir. Viewing a new vineyard on the slopes of an ominously smoking volcano. Mulling a project to establish commercial wine-growing on Easter Island (it’s still early days, but you never know). Taking a boat to a tiny island off Chiloé, in Chile’s deep south, to visit a pioneering vineyard planted with the likes of Albarino, Pinot Gris and Riesling. Tasting a wine grown in a prison (thank you, Viña Capitán Pastene). Earnestly discussing sake yeast, flor, skin contact, field blends, carbonic fermentation for Chardonnay, and ‘Chilean Chartreuse’.
Enough, in short, to make anyone’s head spin. The sheer enthusiasm and ambition, though, is infectious. ‘We’re not Bordeaux,’ smiles Aurelio Montes Jr. ‘We’re not stuck with tradition. We need to innovate and take risks.’
De Martino’s Pucón vineyard in the shadow of Villarrica volcano (see p33)