March 2023 Wine of the Month- Chile

    There’s no country in the world that remotely resembles Chile. A long, impossibly slender index finger pointing half the length of the South American continent, from Peru to Patagonia, it consists of  4,000 miles of Pacific coastline, extending no more than 221 miles inland before running into the Andes mountains. The topography ranges from the world’s driest desert (The Atacama, parts of which haven’t seen rain in 500 years) in the north to the glaciers, ice floes and inverted waterfalls in the south, terminating at Cape Horn, only 600 miles from Antarctica. These quite singular environmental circumstances have birthed some of the most crucial crops in human history; potatoes and tomatoes, however you pronounce them, originate here. And while wine was invented elsewhere, it’s not surprising Chile has become one of South America’s most significant producers, responsible for an impressive diversity of styles grown across all this variegated terroir. 

     Chile’s perch between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes creates a massive air conditioner effect - sucking cool ocean air inland, which helps moderate vineyard temperatures, which can reach scorching levels during the daytime hours. As a result, despite latitudes that are the Southern hemisphere equivalent of southern Spain and North Africa, Chile generally experiences a much more temperate climate, closer to California or Boudreaux. The water, the mountains, and the deserts constitute natural barriers ensuring Chilean vineyards relative isolation from the rest of the winemaking world; phylloxera never made it past them, so  many of the country’s oldest vines remain ungrafted. The first wine grapes, including Pais (aka Listan Prieto aka Mission grape), were planted by Spanish missionaries in the mid-1500s. Eventually, colonial Chilean wine became world renowned as a cheap export wine in the 17th and 18th centuries. After Chile gained its independence from Spain in 1818, things started to change: in 1851, the first French varietal vines were planted in Chile when rich landowning Chileans had traveled to France and wanted to bring back what they had experienced. The French were equally excited by the prospects of Chile’s ideal climate and soils for fine wines and invested in the region early on. Their influence shaped Chile’s wine market towards a focus on Bordeaux varieties like Merlot and Cabernet, primarily for export. Then in the 1990s, French ampelographist Jean Boursiquot discovered that much of the country’s Merlot was actually a nearly extinct grape called Carménère.  Chile suddenly had a varietal to call it’s own, since its almost impossible to find Carménère wines in France today.  

     Today, Chile has 3 major wines regions: the Colchagua Valley, the Maipo Valley and the Elqui Valley. Each has 3 unique growing zones: The Costas (cooler coastal regions), Entre Cordilleras (warm inland valleys) and Los Andes (exposed mountainous areas). The coastal regions are best suited for cool climate grapes like Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Sauvignon Blanc grows well here too - the  Chilean variation is highly aromatic with zippy acidity, which is why we selected one for this month’s club.  What makes this wine unique is the contrast between its fruit notes of white peach and pink grapefruit by intense green, herbal notes of lemongrass, green pea, and freshly wetted concrete. The high elevation Andes create wines with more structure (tannin and acidity) and this leads to intriguing Syrah, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon.  The inland valleys are warmest and known for their soft and supple Bordeaux Blends. Our red selection this month hails from the latter two; appropriately it is a blend of old-vine Carignan and Bordeaux varietals.  

Cheers,

The PlumpJack Wine Team