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Chile
World-class vineyards and varietals perfectly suited to their terroirs. Modern technology combined with centuries-tested winemaking traditions. A growing class of winemakers who have traveled the world, learning from the best in the business. Established producers who have welcomed us into their cellars, allowing us great range in selecting small-batch, character-driven wines. This is what we've discovered in Chile.
Yes, Chile. There is no question that decades of bulk production have damaged the country's young reputation on the world market. But we can say with confidence that this perception is not only outdated, but also ignorant of what's really happening on the ground. Over the past few years, our repeated travels to Chile have proved to us that the potential in Chile for producing high-caliber wines is richer than possibly any other winemaking region in the world today.
What makes Chile so special right now? It is the combination of its frontier spirit and maturing winemaking know-how that has captured our imagination and inspired us to push deeper to select the cream of the crop that less diligent importers are still overlooking. Whether the high-altitude, rust-colored slopes of the Elqui Valley or the sea-cooled valley of Casablanca that reminds us so much of California's Carneros, Chile is a mother lode of rich terroir—and when in the right hands, is producing from them nothing less than excellent and character-rich (yet still stunningly affordable) wines.
Our role in Chile is straightforward and tested. We have adapted our philosophy and practice of “Cuvée Unique”—our selection process that we have cultivated in France for more than 25 years with great success—to Chile's top vineyards and established producers. We are identifying regions where innovative winemakers craft wines that are both unique and true to the nature and character of the land. We are, with the cooperation of local winemakers and growers, selecting wines that represent exactly what we feel is the purest expression of each varietal and vineyard, and bringing the wine to you at a price that still falls leagues under any comparable bottle from Europe or beyond.
Our access to Chile's top wineries couldn't be more secure. Recognized the world over as the leading winemaker in South America today, Alvaro Espinoza is our terroir guide and fellow vinous philosopher. His winemaking partner, Juan Carlos Faúndez, also brings incredible terroir know-how to the table. We like to call this team Chilean wine's alter ego, as there is nothing mass produced about these uncompromising artisans.
Espinoza made his name through Antiyal, his 100% organic, very small-production estate that has won many awards and accolades, and his stewardship of Emiliana Orgánico, one of the larger organic vineyard projects in South America. He has traveled the world, studying in Bordeaux, California and other legendary wine regions, and has successfully married old-world traditions of quality and natural winemaking with Chile's more modern practices—truly the best of all worlds.
Admittedly, we have not “discovered” Chile—dozens of international winemakers have for years been on the ground, taking advantage of the country's great land as well as its low prices. Yet what they've focused on is more of the same—enormous production facilities churning out middling juice. There has been a consistent lack of respect for the country's winemaking potential, and Chile's reputation has soured as a result. For us, however, the choice is clear. With a focus on natural viticulture and traditional winemaking, our selections display the character, balance and elegance expected of the world's finest wines at still more than reasonable prices.
Regions in Chile
Elqui Valley
There's something about the Elqui Valley that attracts visionaries.
The region's fantastically clear skies have drawn international scientists who gaze at the stars through the southern hemisphere's strongest telescopes. Elqui's so-called magnetic energy has made the region a center for mystics and flying saucer seekers. But wine (and not UFOs) is what has truly put Elqui on the vinous map. After a bottling of Syrah from Elqui won “Best in Show” during the Wines of Chile Awards in 2005, not only Chile but the world was quickly won over to the potential of these northern vineyards.
The Elqui Valley (say EL-kee), Chile's northernmost wine region, is especially well-suited for cool weather varietals. Running from the Andes mountains in the east to the coast in the west, the Elqui river cuts a dramatic swath in this high, semi-desert landscape located 300 miles north of the country's capital, Santiago. Rain here is rare; the middle and upper valley portions enjoy more than 300 pristine, sunny days per year. More than 90% of the valley's wine production is dedicated to red wine varietals, such as Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Carménère.
One of the region's finest coastal vineyards for wine, “Titon,” sits less than 15 miles from the Pacific Ocean in the western half of the Elqui Valley, at an altitude of more than 1,000 feet. These rolling, reddish vineyard hills are made up primarily of crushed granite and clay. Similar to Syrah from the northern Rhône, wine from these steep hillside vineyards combine great structure along with invigorating spice and lively complexity. Carménère here too benefits from a long growing season and moderate climate.
The combination of clear skies, low rainfall and consistent winds in the valley help keep vineyards healthy; as a result, many pioneering winemakers are dedicated to organic cultivation—many of which are internationally certified. Our selections from Elqui are either completely organic or are raised as naturally as possible.
Limarí Valley
For more than 4,000 years the Limarí Valley has been a natural oasis amid rough-and-tumble arid lands. A portion of this verdant stretch called the “Enchanted Valley,” some 200 miles north of Santiago, contains petroglyphs carved by ancient tribes as far back as the seventh century CE.
Like the Elqui Valley, the Limarí (say leemar-EE) is a temperate area influenced by both the sea and surrounding coastal mountains. Thick fog called “camanchaca” flows over agricultural lands and vineyards near the coast; this unusual fog is also what sustains Chile's most northerly forest in the Bosque de Fray Jorge national park, a UNESCO biosphere reserve. Inspired by the terroir, one of Chile's pioneering wineries, Francisco de Aguirre, established Limarí's first estate in 1993. Since then, the estate and its vineyards have been purchased by Chile's leading producer, Concha y Toro—further cementing the region's growing prowess in producing top wines.
While inland regions can top 100 degrees in the summer months, Limarí's coast is warm but never extreme; there is also no fear of frost or freezing weather, as winters are always mild. Skies are clear and rainfall is scarce, totaling less than four inches a year. Soils combine ancient volcanic rock with glacial and river deposits, the influence of which can be witnessed in the valley's dramatic landscape. The valley's flatlands near the sea are best suited for viticulture. Vineyards near the sea mix clay and loam with limestone subsoils, while granite and quartz blends in the hillsides.
Because of its gentle, temperate climate, Limarí in general has a longer growing season than about any other wine region in Chile, and is particularly well-suited toward organic viticulture. Winemakers speak of the “slow cook” of the valley, as grapes can hang long and leisurely, pulling more complexity from the soils and in general maintaining a better acidic balance than other hotter regions. Similar to the Elqui Valley, some 90% of vines grown in this region are red varietals.
Casablanca Valley
The spirit of California viticulture played a large part in establishing the Casablanca Valley as Chile's prime location for brisk, sea-influenced white wines.
In the 1980s, winemaker Pablo Morande (who worked for Concha y Toro, one of Chile's largest producers, at the time) was intrigued by the similarities between the golden state's coastal vineyards and the cool Casablanca Valley. He planted just a few acres of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling as a trial. Needless to say, his experiment eventually proved successful—and now Chile's leading winemakers all claim a piece of this picturesque wine region.
Fast forward to the present, and the Casablanca Valley is firmly established as Chile's leading appellation for cooler-weather varietals, with two-thirds of its production dedicated to white wine. The valley can be divided into three microclimates—the lower Orozco area, the middle Tapihue area and the upper Tapihue Alto area. Higher (and thus warmer) regions are better suited for red grapes, while the middle and lower portions (cooler) are where Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and increasingly Pinot Noir, fare well.
The Casablanca Valley, despite its name, geographically is more of a broad basin on the western side of Chile's coastal range of mountains. Just 12 miles from the coast, the middle and lower portions of this region are strongly influenced by the sea. Fog hovers over vines in the mornings, only to clear off in the warmer afternoons; overall, temperatures are moderated by cooling sea breezes. Such moderate conditions result in a long growing season, with harvests in mid-March to early April. Soils are mixed, with clay/sand blends in the lower altitudes and the traditional decomposed granite of the coastal range in the hills.
What's especially encouraging about the cultivation of Sauvignon Blanc in the Casablanca Valley is the replacement of older Sauvignonasse rootstock with proper Sauvignon Blanc clones. Historically the inferior Sauvignonasse (also known as Sauvignon Vert) was widely planted; since the 1980s, however, diligent growers have been grubbing their Sauvignonasse for U.S.- or French-sourced Sauvignon Blanc clones (clone 1 and 242, respectively). We have made it a goal to only select wines that are grown on true rootstock, and our producers only cultivate the “correct” Sauvignon Blanc.
Maipo Valley
To the casual observer, Chilean wine is synonymous with Cabernet Sauvignon from the Maipo Valley. While winemaking has since staked a claim both north and south of the capital city of Santiago and its convenient market of 6 million inhabitants, the Maipo Valley was (and still mostly is) the home base for Chile's largest and most well-known wineries, many of which were founded in the mid-1800s.
French varietals were what the owners of these estates cultivated, with root stocks acquired during their travels—Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc and Carménère. Chilean winemakers long believed Carménère was Merlot, until research identified it as an old Bordeaux varietal that after the phylloxera blight was no longer cultivated on the banks of the Dordogne. Many of these pre-phylloxera vines, however, thrived in the Maipo Valley, its many microclimates providing winemakers the opportunity to find just the right terroir for the right grape varietal.
The Maipo Valley is, very loosely, divided into three regions: the Alto Maipo, closest to the towering Andes mountains in the east; the central Maipo on the valley floor, some of which borders the Maipo River, and the coastal Maipo, where weather patterns are to a small degree influenced by the sea (although the Maipo technically has no coastline.) Mountains surround the valley on three sides—the Andes and its range of foothills to the east, the Chacabuco range to the north, and the Paine range of hills to the south. Such geography keeps the valley generally warm during the days but cool at night.
Many of our producers have focused their attentions to the central Maipo, especially an area called Isla de Maipo. Here the influence of the river and its poor, well-draining alluvial soils that blend with clay and loam—terroir that reminds us of Bordeaux—are ideal for Cabernet Sauvignon and Carménère
Rapel Valley
The larger Rapel Valley, south of Santiago, acts as a sort of gatekeeper, marking a change in climate from Chile's northern, mostly dry and Mediterranean regions to its cooler southern regions. The country's most innovative and pioneering winemakers—as well as Chile's largest organic estate—have identified the Rapel Valley as a premium source for full-bodied and balanced red varietal wines.
The Rapel Valley contains two separate regions: the Cachapoal Valley in the north and the Colchagua Valley in the south. Jesuits planted vines in the Cachapoal Valley back in the mid-1600s, mostly for sacramental wine; recent history has savvy winemakers eyeing not only the region's easy-going growing season in the valley but its more rugged hillsides for robust red wines. Like in the Maipo Valley, the “alto” or higher reaches of the Cachapoal Valley are well-suited for red varietals. Days are warm while nights are cool; the soils are poorer in the hills, resulting in more complex wines. Our producers source full-bodied Syrah from the foothills surrounding Totihue in the eastern valley.
The southern Colchagua Valley may be one of the faster-growing regions in Chile's southern winegrowing areas, primarily for its agricultural diversity and wealth of winegrowing possibilities. Its terroir richness, paired with a population that has for generations worked in agriculture, means that Colchagua has both the land and the know-how to become a world-class region. The heart of the valley centers around the towns of Santa Cruz and Nancagua, where our partners at Rapel cultivate sumptuous Syrah. Warm days (in the high 80s) with cooler evenings offer a moderate climate, while alluvial soils combined with loam/clay produce wines that are round and rich, with great mouthfeel.
With such a beneficial climate, it's no wonder that Chile's largest organic estate, Emiliana Organico, has its home in the Rapel Valley. This estate has hundreds of acres under production, all of which are farmed 100% organically or biodynamically. Led since 2000 by our partner Alvaro Espinoza, the work of Emiliana Organico is further proof of Chile's propensity toward organic viticulture, and above all, its dedication to sound management principals in both the fields and the cellar.
Bío Bío Valley
“Winemaking in the Bío Bío is not for the faint-hearted.”—Peter Richards, Wines of Chile
We like winemakers who like a challenge. Which is why the frontier regions of the Bío Bío Valley are where some of the country's finest producers—our partners—are seeking the next level for Chilean wines.
Sitting some 400 miles south of the capital of Santiago, the Bío Bío Valley (like the Elqui Valley to the far north) holds great promise for pioneering winemakers who deftly manage the elements. Unlike most of Chilean winemaking (especially in the dryer, Mediterranean regions), winemaking here requires a lot more hands-on work—but the early results show that such diligence pays off.
The region takes its name from the Biobío river, the country's second largest waterway, which runs north from the Andes through the central valley on its way to the city of Concepción and the Pacific Ocean. Summers are warm and dry, while seasonal rains irrigate the vineyards in the spring and fall. While there is little ocean influence here, the mountains help to moderate temperatures (yet frost can be a threat in the spring). Along the river plains soils are mostly alluvial, made up of gravel, sand and loam; away from the river, a heavy red clay, rich with minerals, predominates, with crumbling granite in the hillsides.
The valley's varied climate (that reminds one of a more continental European climate, rather than sultry Mediterranean) may be why white varietals such as Riesling fare especially well. Our producers have identified the region surrounding Mulchén, in the southern portion of the appellation, for its red clay soils that impart a bracing minerality and great structure to this noble white grape.