© S. Peter Smith, 1997
What a Contrast from France ...
"Chile has possibly one of the world's most ideal climates for growing grapes"
If you've ever been in France during the harvest , you'll know the constant topic of conversation; if or rather, when it will rain? I'd never heard of a winemaker wishing for anything other than sunshine for the picking until I went to Chile for the harvest this March.
Enjoying a lavish Chilean Barbecue with a few dozen of Chile's winemakers and their friends, I shivered and pulled on a sweater for the first time in a week as a cool breeze fanned the charcoal. The day before, Santiago had sweltered in 95 degree weather, but this morning's mist stayed around to give us a chilly, overcast day. Rather a shame for Viu Manent, the winery who had invited our group to the inauguration of their "Camino del Vino" in the Colchagua Valley, but very welcome for many of those struggling to keep their grapes in check.
I was sitting with Aurelio Montes of Montes Alpha and Gilbert Rokvam, Lafite Rothschild's retired Maitre de Chais and supervisor of their foreign vineyards. With us was Gilbert's new winemaker at Los Vascos, and a few more of the French expatriate wine community.
As we were savoring our Chilean dessert, up came Michel Friou, the young Frenchman who makes the wine for Lapostolle. Grabbing a few minutes to come down to say hello, Michel told us how he was working all hours to harvest Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Merlot all at the same time, before they got over-ripe. "I hope the weather stays cloudy like this for the next two weeks" he said - this was the first day of "autumn" weather after a very hot, very dry summer.
Chile has possibly one of the world's most ideal climates for growing grapes. On my first visit last year I was won over by its tremendous potential. I began to wonder if the almost masochistic suffering of the French is perhaps not the only way to make great wine…
Still, you can always have too much of a good thing. Here in Chile, the challenge for a winemaker is to compensate for sun and drought. Too much sun and the grapes ripen without maturing. In other words, they have plenty of sugar but the skins are not fully developed to give the depth and complexity of a great wine.
The best Chilean winemakers are aware of their particular situation, and take measures in their cultivation and winemaking to avoid these problems. Crop levels, selection of grapes and choice of location for new plantings are very important. The level of education and awareness is very high, and the rest of the world is taking Chile extremely seriously. Investors both within and outside the wine trade, from Chile and abroad are pouring millions of dollars into the wine industry, and the results are starting to show.
In normal years the growing season is actually longer than France's, but this season was particularly hot, bringing some special challenges. The Chileans are well-prepared now to meet the goals they have set for themselves to take on the rest of the world, and you can be assured some very exciting wines as they expand their horizons to new regions, new varieties and new techniques.
For our part, we had a wonderful tour! We discovered a new hotel; Casa Real, the incredible mansion of Santa Rita Vineyards. This is the only place I've stayed that compares to Chateau Beychevelle in the Medoc. The owner is Senor Claro, who also owns Carmen winery and Chile's largest shipping line, and is Chile's only bottle manufacturer. He has restored the estate's mansion with impeccable taste, and this will be a highlight of all our future tours in Chile.
Our welcome on this trip was even warmer than our last visit, and we had to squeeze in extra meals at wineries to avoid offending our hosts. Candlelight and white table cloths on the back lawn of a historic antique-filled hacienda isn't a bad way to live!
We'll be back here in December to see the latest developments in this rapidly evolving nation, and to enjoy more of the wonderful warmth of the Chilean winemakers.
If you've been on a tour, thanks for letting us share a little of France with you - if you haven't been yet, try it: we think you'll really like it - ask those who've been!