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The Ultimate Guide To Wine in Chile

The Ultimate Guide To Wine in Chile

Introduction

Chile is becoming more and more important for every wine lover. The reason why this is happening is that they have been exporting more wine over the last years, drawing people’s attention.

It was quite odd to see an entire wine list section completely devoted to Chilean wine two decades ago. However, this isn’t far-fetched anymore, especially in markets that import a lot of wine.

Chile was the world’s 4th largest exporter of wine in 2017, establishing itself as a leader in wine export along with France, Spain, and Italy (investinchile.com, 2019).

The total area of vineyards for winemaking occupies 141,000 ha (1,200 million liters).

If this doesn’t stimulate your curiosity enough, you may want to know that in 2017 exports of wine and must exceeded 967 million liters, worth more than USD 2,067 million.

After this quick overview, let the journey through Chile begin…!

An amazing tour among Chile's vineyards
Figure 1: An amazing tour among Chile’s vineyards (nytimes.com, 2013)

The Main Grape Varieties

There are about 75 different grape varieties, but only 7 of them represent more than 80% of the planted area.

The most important variety in terms of volume is Cabernet Sauvignon (302.23 million hectoliters). This grape can really thrive in the central valley regions, especially Maipo valley, Rapel valley, and Curicó valley.

Sauvignon Blanc (146.74 million hectoliters) is mainly cultivated in the Aconcagua region. The best expression of Sauvignon Blanc comes from Casablanca valley and San Antonio valley due to some environmental influences ( more in the next paragraph).

The best expression of Merlot (132.49 million hectoliters) is possibly in Casablanca valley and the Itata valley (Southern region).

Although it isn’t the most important in terms of volume, Chile’s signature variety is Carménère (77.5 million hectoliters), which is mainly cultivated in the Rapel Valley.

Wine Production volume in Chile in 2018 by variety in million liters
Graphic 1: Wine Production volume in Chile in 2018 by variety in million liters (The Wine Jokers, 2021)

The Main Environmental Factors

Chile is an interesting New World wine region making premium quality products thanks to its environmental factors. It’s 900 km long, but rarely more than 100 km from west to east.

It’s its unique shape that makes the environmental factors so important here in Chile. The climate is warm Mediterranean, but in some places, such as the Southern Regions or Aconcagua Valley, it can turn quite cool and this is why Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay can thrive.

But how is this possible? We are sure that these envirnmental factors will make everything clear for you:

  • Pacific Ocean (west): It’s well-known that big bodies of water play an important role in mitigating the climate. In other words, they will warm up the vines in the coldest months and cool them down in the hottest, reducing the continentality of a specific region.
  • Andes (east): This chain of mountains is essential for the production of premium wines as it provides altitude, aspect, and diurnal range. All these factors are important to mitigate the climate and extend the growing season;
  • Humboldt Current: This transport cold air across the surface of the Ocean, cooling down the vineyards that may be too hot for grape growing otherwise;
  • El Niño and La Niña: They are weather patterns that can affect Chile’s wine region in some years. Rainfall levels can dramatically increase during El Niño years, whereas drought may occur in La Niña years. This cyclical weather phenomenon is experienced throughout the pacific;

As you can see, all these factors influence the climate here in Chile, where latitude plays an important role only in the Southern Regions.

The unique Chile's landscape, where the Andes overlook everything
Figure 2: The unique Chile’s landscape, where the Andes overlook everything (kimkim.com, 2019)

The GI System In Chile

The GI system in place is the Denominaciones de Origen (DO). According to this, the vineyards of Chile are divided into 4 major regions, from north to south, as follow:

  • Coquimbo Region;
  • Aconcagua Region;
  • Central Valley Region;
  • Southern Region;

Each region is divided into sub-regions. For instance, San Antonio is a sub-region within the Aconcagua Region. We are going to break the regions with all the most important sub-regions in the next paragraph so that you will have a general understanding.

In 2012, a further degree of classification was announced. The new classification categorizes vineyards sites according to their distance from the coast rather than their latitude. The following terms may appear on wine labels:

  • Costa (for costal areas);
  • Entre Cordilleras (the areas between the mountain ranges);
  • Andes (mountain areas);

It’s important to note that all these terms are complementary terms and it’s completely up to the producers whether to use them or not.

A completely different landscape in Chile
Figure 3: A completely different landscape in Chile (pinterest.it, 2020)

The 4 Regions

Now that you know the main grape varieties, environmental factors, and the GI system in place, there isn’t anything else left apart from breaking the 4 Chile’s regions down.

1. Coquimbo Region

The most important sub-regions here are:

  • Elqui Valley (Syrah, Sauvignon Blanc);
  • Limarí Valley (Chardonnay, Syrah, Pinot Noir);
  • Choapa Valley (Syrah);

2. Aconcagua Region

Although we are still in the northern part of Chile, temperatures drop considerably in Aconcagua. This is because the sub-zones are located less inland and closer to the coastal area.

As a result, there is a phenomenon that strongly influences vine growing in this very region: fog. The warm air coming from inland meets the cool air from the Pacific Ocean giving rise to a thick layer of fog.

As clouds do, fog helps cool an area that may otherwise struggle to produce premium quality grapes. Therefore, this is one of the most suitable zones for white varieties, especially Sauvignon Blanc.

These are the main sub-regions within Aconcagua:

  • Aconcagua Valley;
  • Casablanca Valley (Merlot, Syrah, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay);
  • San Antonio Valley (Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Syrah);

Within San Antonio Valley, there is a zone, called Leyda Valley, which is well known due to its great Sauvignon Blanc;

Errazuriz winery, one of Chile's iconic estates
Figure 4: Errazuriz winery, one of Chile’s iconic estates (lisedmarquezblog.com, 2020)

3. Central Vally Region

The vineyards are inland in the Central Valley region, where Carménère can thrive more than anywhere else. This late-ripening variety originally comes from the Gironde is very well suited to lighter sandy soils. Heavier clay soil wouldn’t allow it to ripen properly (just like it would happen with Carbernet Sauvignon). In fact,

The vineyards are inland in the Central Valley region, where Carménère can thrive more than anywhere else. This late-ripening variety originally comes from the Gironde is very well suited to lighter sandy soils. Heavier clay soil wouldn’t allow it to ripen properly (just like it would happen with Carbernet Sauvignon). In fact, Carménère usually takes between 4 to 5 more weeks than Merlot to reach full ripeness and lose its “green character”.

These are the sub-regions within Central Valley:

  • Maipo (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Carménère);
  • Rapel Valley: it can be further broken down into Colchagua Valley and Cachapoal Valley, both extremely suitable for varieties such as Carménère and Merlot);
  • Curicó Valley: again, two are the names to remember within this sub-region. The first one is Lontué Valley, and the second one is Teno Valley;
  • Maule Valley: this is the southernmost Central Valley’s sub-regions and, as a result, temperatures start dropping a bit due to the latitude. Claro Valley, Lancomilla Valley, and Tutuvén Valley are the names to remember here;

4. Southern Region

As we already said, here is only Chile’s region where latitude can be considered a pivotal factor. If it wasn’t for the extra sunshine hours, grape wouldn’t probably ripen here.

Therefore, choosing the aspect with longer sun exposure can make a difference in this southerly region. Best vineyards sites will be facing to the north here (don’t forget we are in the southern hemisphere…).

There are 3 main sub-regions here:

  • Itata Valley (Cabernet Sauvignon, Carménère, Merlot, Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay);
  • Bío Bío Valley (Chardonnay, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir);
  • Malleco Valley;
The breathtaking Malleco viaduct
Figure 5: The breathtaking Malleco viaduct (pinterest.at, 2020)

Conclusions

We believe this article doesn’t only give you a great overview of Chile, but even the best approach you can possibly use in order to study (and really understand) every specific wine region.

If you know what a vine needs, you will only have to study the main environmental factors of every region, starting from its overall climate. We found this system successful as our studies went on because it allowed us to deeply understand the region, its characteristics, and, as a result, the styles of the wines made there.

If you understand what we just told you, your studies will be much smoother and easier too. There will be so many positive implications indeed. For instance, you won’t need to remember by heart where certain grapes varieties can thrive.

Don’t you believe us? Check out once again the main grape varieties in Bío Bío Valley. Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir… They aren’t the classic Mediterranean varieties, are they?


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