Chile is one of the most important wine producing countries in South America. Occupying a thin strip on the west coast of the continent, it is home to a wide range of Terroirs and wine styles.
The Chilean wine industry is often associated in export markets with good quality, consistent wines, but some world-class reds are also produced and sell at high prices. For red wines, the first export stalwarts were the France/bordeaux">Bordeaux varieties of Cabernet Grape/sauvignon">Sauvignon and Merlot,
Like many New World countries, Chile has adopted an iconic grape variety; here it is Carmenère, once widely grown in Bordeaux.
It was thought to have disappeared as a result of the Phylloxera epidemics in Europe in the 19th century, but it was rediscovered in Chile in the 1990s. Much of this variety was mixed with Merlot plants in the Vineyards; it was often thought that the Carmenère vines were less successful mutations of the former. Once they were identified and the fruit was left an extra week or two on the vine to Fully ripen, Carmenère and single-varietal blends began to spread (NB: this variety is usually spelled Carménère - with two accents - outside Chile).
Pinot Noir from cooler regions of Chile is beginning to make an impression, and Syrah is gaining popularity in many regions offering a wide variety of styles.
The distribution of red varieties in Chile also includes Bordeaux players, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc and Malbec. The importance of the latter has increased in light of Argentina's success with this variety, although plantings in Chile date back to the 19th century. Cinsaut and Carignan join Syrah in the French contingent in the South.
White wine plantings are dominated by Chardonnay - also grown in many different macroclimates - which can reach very high levels of quality with prices to match, and Sauvignon Blanc.
White muscat is a white grape variety of Greek origin. Present in several Mediterranean vineyards, it has several synonyms such as muscat de Die, muscat blanc and frontignac. In France, it occupies a little less than 7,000 ha out of a total of 45,000 ha worldwide. Its young shoots are downy. Its youngest leaves are shiny, bronzed and scabrous. The berries and bunches of this variety are all medium-sized. The flesh of the berries is juicy, sweet and firm. Muscat à petits grains has a second ripening period and buds early in the year. It is moderately vigorous and must be pruned short. It likes poor, stony slopes. This variety is often exposed to spring frosts. It fears mildew, wasps, grape worms, court-noué, grey rot and powdery mildew. Muscat à petits grains is used to make rosé wines and dry white wines. Orange, brown sugar, barley sugar and raisins are the known aromas of these wines.
sparkling wines from the region of Chile go well with generally quite well with dishes of beef, lamb or pork such as recipes of fillet of beef in a foie gras and truffle crust, leg with a spoon or seven o'clock leg or cantonese rice.
On the nose in the region of Chile often reveals types of flavors of citrus fruit, watermelon or red fruit and sometimes also flavors of oak, black fruit or tropical fruit.
In the first part of this series, see the wines that the Decanter editorial team is most excited about tasting at the Decanter Fine Wine Encounter NYC on Saturday 18th June 2022. Amy Wislocki – Decanter Magazine Editor Cape Landing Blackwood Cabernet Sauvignon, Margaret River 2019 At the end of every year at Decanter, we organise a ‘Wines of the Year‘ tasting. We ask our key contributors and editorial staff to pick out the wines that most impressed them during the year just gon ...
Amanda Barnes has been awarded the John Avery Award for her The South America Wine Guide book, which was described as ‘heralding a new era’ in wine travel books. The book, which is the result of a decade of research conducted by Barnes while travelling the continent, details the wine regions, wines and producers of Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, Bolivia and Peru. It highlights over 70 wine regions and maps out 40 in detail — many of which have never before been mapped or documented in the En ...
Bottles of three different wines made by the two Masters of Wine in partnership with English producers will be part of the special charity sale this week, beginning on Thursday (25 November). All profits will go to the Marine Conservation Society, a charity that works to protect and restore the sea and its ecosystem, said Barrie and Richards. ‘We’re proud to be working with the Marine Conservation Society,’ said Susie Barrie MW. ‘English wine may have benefited in some regards from climate chang ...
