The Famous Chilean Wine
What Is Your Favorite Chilean Wine?
A century later Don Silvester Ochagavía who was an affluent landowner, wanted to improve the quality of his vine so he went to France. He brought back cuttings just in the nick of time because not too long after the vines developed a plague of the phylloxera beetle that begun to chew the roots of the vineyard in Europe and nearly destroyed the wine industries in Germany, Italy and France. While the European vines were being replanted several out of work French enologists came to Chile to give technical advice on planting and wine-making. This plague never made it to Chile because of its natural barriers such and the Pacific Ocean, the Atacama desert and the Andes mountains. This is what makes Chilean wine so special since the wine grows naturally, ungrafted, from the original European stock making a big difference in the taste of the wine. At this time cuttings of Cabernet Sauvignon vines were planted and is now the most common type of red wine used. This is produced as a 100 percent unblended wine, although some people blend it with Merlot or less common Malbec grapes. At around the same time Cabernet Sauvignon was introduced someone else (unknown) brought cutting of Carmenere from Bordeaux. This vine and its wine are very similar to Merlot in fact it was classified as the same until 1990s when a Frenchman noticed the difference. After some testing they proved that is was Carmenere and it was become a Chilean signature because it’s so rare. White wine is made from Chardonnay and Savignon Blanc grapes also brought from Bordeaux, these having a softer taste and less pungent than the Loire Valley variety. Another reason for this great tasting wine is the excellent place they have to grow the vines, the long Central Valley. Here the vines have the ideal temperate climate with hot sunny days and cool nights and the right type of soil for the vines to grow these wonderful grapes. The harvest of the grapes takes place between early March and mid-April, the picking stars later down south (near Curicó). In fact around mid-March a festival was started near Curicó for the vendimia held by the Miguel Torres winery, but now it’s held in Santa Cruz in the Colchagua Valley. Now for a bit of information about the wineries. If you plan to visit them there are some off-season tours available but they are limited to the bottling plant, the original cellars and the grounds of the winery. This kind of tour takes about an hour and includes tasting. Some wineries have added an elegant sales rooms and, in some cases, restaurants. These are the wineries listed from north to south: Chilean Wines in Elqui Valley Cavas del Valle Chilean Wines of Limari Valley Agua Tierra Chilean Wines of Aconcagua Valley Casablanca Valley Casablanca Valley Maipo Valley Cochapoal Valley Colchagua Valley Curicó Valley Maule Valley ItataValley What Is Your Favorite Chilean Wine?Do you have a favorite Chilean Wine that you can leave the shore without it? Share with everyone what makes this wine so special and why it´s your favorite! Rate the best ones! What Other Visitors Have SaidClick below to see contributions from other visitors to this page...
Miguel Torres or Perez Cruz
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