As the most deadly pest in the history of viticulture tore through most of the wine-making world causing widespread destruction to grape vines in the late 1800’s, how is it that the long nation of Chile has remained relatively unaffected to this day?

Continuing our focus on Chile for the month of March, we look at what makes Chile the world’s most suitable natural environment for growing wine grapes, how it benefited from its natural barriers and a benevolent Mediterranean climate, and why such a large proportion of Chilean wine reaching us today is bio-dynamic without the producer having to lift a finger.

In most parts of the world, the organic production of wine can be quite labour intensive and there’s a lot of thought that goes into making a vineyard bio-dynamic, and the final product organic for that matter. For some areas, it’s simply not viable to omit the use of industrial pesticides, such is the nature of the environment. So what makes Chile so different?

Climate

Chile’s climate is highly influenced by the cooling effect of the Pacific Ocean and the Humboldt Current that begins in the icy waters near Antarctica and flows up the western coast of South America. When the effect of the Humboldt’s cold current hits Chile’s northern coastline it produces clouds and fog, but little or no precipitation, which then contributes to making the Atacama Desert the driest on Earth.

Geography

The cool sea air is partially blocked by the Coastal Mountains, although it finds its way inland by following the course of the transversal river valleys. During the day, sea breezes carried by the cold Humboldt Current penetrate inland, and each night, cold air descends from the snow covered peaks of the Andes.

Chile’s geographic barriers - the Atacama Desert to the north, the Andes Mountains to the east, the Patagonian ice fields to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west - make it a veritable agricultural island. Together they help maintain healthy conditions and protect vineyards against pests and disease.

Soil & Terroir

With so much geographic variety, the Chilean landscape also offers a vast mosaic of terroirs and soil types. Soils are healthy, well-drained, and have a variety of origins (alluvial, colluvial, fluvial, etc.) and textures (loam, clay, sand, silt). Despite the relatively dry atmospheric conditions, abundant water for irrigation flows from the ice caps of the Andes Mountains that tower all along Chile’s eastern border.

Altitude

In recent years, more and more vineyards creep closer and higher to the peaks, where the sun is slow to appear over the eastern peaks and makes up for its late arrival with the intensity that comes with altitude. Currents of wind climb and descend over the course of the day to create a daily pendulum of temperatures that swings broadly between daytime highs and night time lows. This is just what rich red grapes, such as Cabernet Sauvignon, thrive on.

Not long, but wide

Curiously, it’s not the distance from the equator that plays the dominant role in the diversity of Chile’s grape growing exploits, but rather the proximity to the Pacific Ocean or the Andes Mountains. Chile has much greater diversity in soils and climates from east to west than from north to south.

Both Santa Alicia and Tabali farm very close to organic. Although not certified, Sierra Grande produces wine from organically grown grapes. 20% off all Chilean wines for the month of March (discounted at checkout).

Educational material courtesy of winesofchile.org

You didn’t just think it was the Old World who focused on the significance of region, did you? Those people who are in any way observant will notice that most wines will be labelled with specific regions or sub-regions.

Of the New World countries, it is probably Australia who is currently investing the most time and money into educating the consumer on the importance of regional identification. It’s important because wine from one region to the next can be vastly different, even if it is the same grape being used. You can catch up on Australia’s evolving story in our regional heroes series.

Chile is another New World country to realise the importance of regional identity. If anything, it has the most diverse terroir in the world. After all, we are talking about a country 2,700 miles from top to bottom, which, needless to say, allows it to have an incredibly varied climate, ranging from the world’s driest desert (the Atacama) in the north, to a Mediterranean climate in the centre, and a rainy temperate climate in the south. It is getting almost the whole mix of the southern hemisphere climate.

There are four key regions in Chile - Coquimbo, Aconcagua, Central Valley (Valle Central) and the most southerly region simply known as the Southern Regions or Southern Chile. Each has sub-regions and some have zones within those sub-regions. The bulk of Chilean wines are regional, hence wines labelled “Central Valley”, with no other distinction of origin, have grapes sourced from growers throughout several different parts of the region. They are brought together to be processed and bottled in one location, which may even be outside of Chile. A lot of the less expensive wines are made in facilities in Chile and then bottled in the Europe or the USA to save on transport costs.

The most productive region is Central Valley, with the sub-regions of Maipo, Curicó, Maule and Rapel. Rapel Valley consists of two zones called Cachapoal and Colchagua. Just across the Andes is Argentina’s Mendoza wine region. Maipo and Rapel are well known for their Cabernet Sauvignon, with Curicó getting a name for its Chardonnay.

The sub-region of Casablanca, within Aconcagua, is a cooler climate area, producing some fantastic Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, but perhaps the most fascinating sub-region for me is Limarí Valley, part of Coquimbo, which is the most northerly wine region. Next door to the driest place on Earth, it produces some real blockbusters, the best of which still have the minerality, elegance and poise of the worlds finest wines. To find out more about the promised land of Limarí, click here.

If you’re tempted to indulge, look up Santa Alicia’s Maipo Cabernet Sauvignon and Tabalí’s Especial powerhouse red blend from Limarí Valley. There’s 20% off all Chilean wines for the month of March (prices discounted at checkout).

Thanks to winesofchile.org. Picture of the Guanacos courtesy of Santa Alicia.

Clandestine parcels aside, this month’s all about Chile, so our April contest needed a related theme. Our first thought was a big pot of Mum’s chilli con carne but transport and keeping it warm was always going to be an issue (ok, really bad play on words in any case!).

Thankfully, with the unusually long and chilly winter we’ve been having (ok, we really have to stop now with the cheesy puns), our good friends in Santa Alicia sent us over a couple of Chilean ponchos to keep us warm in the Curious Wines warehouse. You could prise Matt’s from his cold dead hands but, preferring to keep him alive and warm, we’ve put the other one up for this month’s contest, along with a couple of bottles of our favourite Chileans’ finest.

(It’s not Mum’s chilli, but it’s a good second best.)

How to Enter: All you have to do to enter the contest is join (or already be a member of) our monthly newsletter. We’ll draw a winner at random in April when our next newsletter goes out. You are of course completely welcome to un-join the minute after the draw is done, but we like giving discounts, special deals and free stuff to our members, so we hope you’ll stick around!

Congratulations to Aoife Porter, winner of our March contest! Prizes on the way to you Aoife.

The month of Spain has been and gone, but it’s a close cousin in the limelight for the month of March, with a generous 20% off all the wines of Chile.

Top 10 or so random facts about Chile and her glorious wine

1. Chile’s population is heading on an estimated 17 million. They speak Spanish and their currency is Chilean pesos.

2. More than 4,300 km long and an average of just 177 km wide, the country is rich in geographic and climatic diversity rarely found in a single country.

3. Their principal exports are fish, paper, copper, fruit, pulp… oh, and wine.

4. Chile claims about 1,250,000 square kilometres of Antarctica, although all claims are suspended under the Antarctic Treaty.

5. One of Chile’s founding fathers was Bernardo O’Higgins Riquelme. He was of Irish descent, with his father being born in Sligo. There is a plaque in his honour in Merrion Square, Dublin, and in the Garavogue River Walkway in Sligo.

6. Wine grape vines arrived in the 1500s with the Spanish missionaries who needed wine to celebrate the Catholic mass (around 80% of the population are now Catholic).

7. Chile’s signature grape is Carménère, which was thought to be Merlot until the mid-1990’s. It was brought over from Bordeaux, before Phylloxera had hit the region. It is now in the safe hands of the Chileans, and boy, are they making good use of it.

8. The Atacama desert is the driest place on earth. Lying just south of it is Limarí Valley, where some of Chile’s most exciting and concentrated wines are being nurtured.

9. Chile uses less pesticides in the vineyard than any other wine producing nation. As a result, many of the wines are organic, despite not being certified organic.

10. For reasons that have never fully been understood, Chile remains Phylloxera-free to this day.

Thanks to winesofchile.org for some of the fab content. Click here to view our sale on Chilean wines.

‘A paradise for wine growers and wine lovers’, glowed David Gonzalez, head wine-maker at Santa Alicia, when we asked him last month about Chile.

We mightn’t be qualified to comment on the growing bit but one thing’s for certain, Irish wine-lovers love Chile, and so do we. So much so, we’ve knocked 20% off every bottle in March!

Highlights include 2007 Chilean Winery of the Year Santa Alicia, now only €7.75 for the Reserva range, our budget-friendly organic Sierra Grande down to €6.63, and the premium Tabali from €9.59.

And, if you want a whistle-stop tour in a box, our Case of the Month is A Taste of Chile, 12 of our favourites with a stonking €31.88 in savings.

James Halliday’s Australian Wine Companion has rated Langmeil Winery five stars for the last five years running, placing it amongst the very top echelon of Australian Wineries. More than that, Langmeil are sitting on a bit of Australian wine heritage - a three and a half acre vineyard that was planted in 1843 called “The Freedom”, believed to be the oldest Shiraz vines in Australia, and possibly the world.

You can save €6 when you buy two of the Village series, and €10 when you buy two of the Old Vine Garden series, including the limited availability 1843 Freedom.

Finally, if it’s good quaffing with a taste of sunshine you’re after, look no further than our Californian corner where we’ve got 2 for €15 on Fish Eye and Winston Hill.

Offers will run until 31st March or, as ever, while stocks last.

David Gonzalez is chief winemaker at Santa Alicia, the winery which picked up Best Chilean Wine Producer at the 2007 International Wine & Spirits Competition. This is the man behind undoubtedly some of the best Chilean wines to reach Irish shores, and we’re really happy to have him answer our questions. (Click here to view the range)

1. What is your favourite grape to work with and why?

I think that almost any grape can be transformed into good wine depending on the passion of the winemaker, but personally I like Cabernet Sauvignon and Carmenérè when it comes to our range of reds. The first one is for me one of the most complete varieties to produce wine. You get flavours, aromas, structure, volume, a bit of everything if you now how to work with it. Carmenérè on the other hand represents a challenge to the skills of a winemaker looking for the right time to harvest and the right management in the cellar. Also this variety is becoming Chile’s own and that is also a challenge for the winemakers to get the best from this variety.

2. What is the highlight of making your own wine? What part of the process do you most enjoy?

To make wines that reflect the characteristics of the grape variety and terroir is important for me. I enjoy the process of making wine as a whole, especially the fermentation process when the wine starts to express itself properly. I love tasting the wines at each stage.

3. If you couldn’t make wine in Chile any more, where would you go?

I think I could enjoy making wine anywhere, each place represents a different challenge and with that in mind I have no preference for a country different than Chile.

4. You have an incredible medal collection at Santa Alicia. Is it difficult to maintain these standards?

For us, Medals are not an objective but a result. Keeping or increasing quality standards is a duty which we are truly committed to. Every day we try to improve the quality of our products and have better practices in our processes. It is a daily challenge but it doesn’t necessarily need to be a difficult one.

5. What makes Chile so special as a wine-producing country?

There are many factors that make of Chile a special country for producing wine. Its geography offers you a huge diversity of climates and soils, a long dry and warm season, the long coast with the influence of the Humbolt current and the Andes Mountains. All of them make Chile a paradise for wine growers and wine lovers.

Thanks to David Gonzalez and Santa Alicia.

Our range from Santa Alicia.

There’s a great amount of time, energy and expense that goes into Santa Alicia’s Gran Reserva range. The wines are subject to 12 months in French oak, with a further 12 months in bottle before release. It’s a nice step up from the already impressive Reserva range.

To view product page and for more details, click on Santa Alicia Gran Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon.

It’s not only Cork that’s been affected, but it’s a chilly day throughout Ireland with temperatures hovering around the 0°C mark. Getting about this morning was like taking your car onto an ice rink that had just been rained upon. In fact, that’s pretty much what it was.

No matter, there’s another kind of Chilly that will be passing my lips this Christmas. So here’s a quick shot synopsis of the history of my favourite South American wine producing nation for those who are not in the know.

Because Chile’s wines have only arrived in the UK and Ireland in big numbers over the last decade or so, it’s tempting to assume that Chile’s wine industry is a relatively young one. Tempting, but wrong…

Grapes have been grown in Chile since the 1500s when the conquistadors took over cuttings from Spain to grow their sacramental wine. What they were growing wasn’t, frankly, something you’d want to drink unless you had to. But the modern industry began as long ago as 1824, when the first wealthy businessman decided he wanted to grow French grape varieties.

Soon, everyone who was anyone was at it, and expensive wine estates - planted with Bordeaux grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, and Burgundy grapes like Chardonnay, were springing up all over the valleys south of the capital.

By the 1980s, the industry had its second re-birth, when producers began to invest in the same sort of new technology that has boosted winemaking standards in places like Australia and California. This, combined with an even-better understanding of just what makes the country’s vineyards tick, has given wines of unrivalled purity of fruit flavours and even more reliability than before. Technology and tradition in perfect harmony: the ongoing story of Chile’s wine industry.

What’s growing down in Chile?

Whites: Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, Gewurztraminer, Riesling.

Reds: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah/Shiraz, Pinot Noir, Carmenere.

Among others of course.

Content courtesy of Wines of Chile UK.

Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Shiraz have traditionally been the big red players in the global wine market. There are a number of reasons these varietals have gained such popularity, one factor being that they are all relatively easy to cultivate, another being that they simply produce excellent wines. But if you are the sort of person that likes to explore or have a break from the norm, it’s time to try Carmenère.

Widely grown in the Médoc in the 18th century, Carmenère produced exceptionally good wine but was abandoned due to susceptibility to coulure and the resulting low yields. In the 19th century, cuttings of Merlot were taken to Chile, however it was later found that the majority of these vines were in fact Carmenère (up to 90% in certain vineyards). They look so similar, and don’t taste miles apart either, but they ripen at different times. So a field of Merlot and Carmenère vines harvested at the same time often produced a bit of a monster wine.

The fascinating part of this story is that Chile only officially recognised Carmenère as recently as 1996, and it has only been able to label wines as Carmenère since 1998. In this time many Chilean winemakers have come to grips with managing this wonderful grape. Like Pinot Noir, it’s fussy. Between winter and harvest time, too much rain can play havoc with the final flavours, and on the flip-side, a site that is too hot can off set the balance with too much alcohol. But Chile has many sites that are perfectly suited, and it looks like what is a loss to France, is a gain for Chile.

A big, full-bodied wine, Carmenère makes powerful, spicy reds with low acidity, fairly high tannins and a velvety texture. Expect flavours of dark, sweet fruit (blackberry and plum) and perhaps green bell pepper and green bean when under-ripe.

Who knows, had it worked out in France, Carmenère could have been rolling of the tongue as easily as Merlot. Maybe some day it will. Just don’t believe that it’s only the noble grapes varieties that can produce stunning wine.

There’s no better place to start than with Santa Alicia’s Carmenère.

Back in June of this year, Waitrose (Decanter’s Supermarket of the Year 2009) began to stock a new range of wines from Chile. The wine was shipped in 24,000 litre flexitanks and bottled in the UK, saving 32,000 bottles - or 16 tons of glass - that no longer needed to be shipped. As a result, there was a reduction in carbon emissions, shipping, distribution and production costs.

A green innovation that saves money for retailers and consumers is a win win. We have several lines of our own that use the same distribution method, helping us to retail good quality wine at low prices. The Paarl Heights and Sierra Grande range are good examples.

The winemakers firstly ensure that they are buying quality grapes at a good price, and they instruct the farmers on the methods required to grow the best fruit. The wines are made in their native country, shipped on lees, allowing the ageing time required, before being stabilised and bottled in Europe (France in the case of the above). So the wine has travelled half way around the world without the excess weight of their packaging.

The Last Stand is another good example. In the likes of Chile there is more control required by the winemaker in the vineyard, but in Australia it’s a buying process for inexpensive wines. These grapes are actually selected by buyers at Tim Burvill’s Rockbare winery, who make more expensive and superior drops in comparison, but help to produce a fabulous budget wine that may have been set at a slightly higher price had they been imported all the way from OZ in bottle.

For higher priced wine, the saving obviously won’t make as much of a difference on the retail price, and the process as a whole is not going to stop global warming by itself, but it is a step in the right direction and if it helps keep the price vs quality ratio favourable, then who’s complaining?