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Chile focuses on new wave wines as drive to push its dynamic credentials gathers pace

Published:  17 June, 2016

The recent Chile Update 2016 swung the spotlight firmly on the dynamic evolution and new styles of wine emerging from the country

The Chile Update 2016 tasting and seminar at private member wine club 67 Pall Mall swung the spotlight firmly on the evolution and new styles of wine emerging from the country, delivering the message that Chile is now perhaps the "most dynamic New World country today".

Co-hosted by Chile expert Peter Richards MW and Concha y Toro head winemaker Marcelo Papa on behalf of Wines of Chile, the session honed in on a series of topics, including cooler climate regions, sparkling wine, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, intriguing blends and collaboration, to illustrate just how far Chile has moved on from being the popularly perceived supplier of reliable entry level and above wine styles.

"Chile is a journalist's dream and a journalist's nightmare because it moves so fast that it's almost out of date the moment you've spoken about it," said Richards.

"The pace of change has been incredible, in 1989 Chile made 400 million litres of wine, of which 7% was exported," continued Richards. "By 2009 Chile made nearly one billion litres of wine, of which 70% was exported, at a value of US $1.4 billion, with this trend continuing."

Moreover, as Richards and Papa highlighted through a series of wines, including an intense Morande Brut Nature NV, an elegant Lapostele Muscat from Limari, bright Boya Pinot Noir from Leyda and a collaborative Concha y Toro growers blend of restrained Carignan from Maule, the diversity and increasingly terroir-focused nature of Chile's collective offer is continuing to emerge.

The audience learnt that Chile is planted to over 70 grape varieties, ranging from dominant Cabernet Sauvignon and then Sauvignon Blanc to grapes as diverse as traditional Pais, Muscat, Semillon, Cabernet Franc, Carignan, Cinsault, Riesling and much else besides, with examples of many of these on tasting as single variety and blended wines.

Richards highlighted the development of Chilean Pinot Noir as a useful insight into the evolution of the broader industry and how it has been developing.

"Chile's story with Pinot is about the story of wine in Chile, Pinot suffered from poor plant material, plantings in the wrong places, and yet they haven't made bad Pinot," said Richards.

"But now they are starting to get it right and things are changing,' he continued. "To massively stereotype, Chileans have tended to be risk averse, but that is starting to change - you can't make great Pinot if you are risk averse."

The alternative face of Chile

The mix of value and quality of the Pinots coming out of regions such as Leyda, along with a mix of restrained styles and varieties from other emerging cooler climate regions such as Limari and Elqui, suggests that Chileans have now fully found the confidence to explore their diverse terroirs to the full.

Also worth bearing in mind, said Richards, having now got the plant material right - and increasingly in the right sites - is the relative youth of much of the newer vineyard plantings, suggesting that quality can only rise with age.

To illustrate the point, Richard said: "Two thirds of Chilean Pinot Noir is under 10 years old, there were 839ha in 1999, but now there are 4,200ha, and we are just starting to see world class Pinots coming out - look at the Boya Pinot Noir from Leyda which is just £10.99, if Chile can do this now, with the problems it has had, then where can it go?".

"Everyone understands that we are moving towards more elegant, more restrained styles," added Papa. "When I moved to Concha y Toro everyone was talking about Casablanca, but I started persuading people that Limari was a very good area for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, to look to places like Elqui, areas that have strong character, where the wines are now showing minerality, saltiness, good acidity and brightness. Of course we need to get more precision, in terms of viticulture and oak usage, to produce less ripe, less manipulated wines with greater elegance and restraint."

Chile tastingChile tastingThe alternative face of Chile

The challenge now for Chile, with ample examples of individual, quality wines in evidence at the tasting, is to continue to change perception with both public and trade.

Anita Jackson, head of Wines of Chile UK, said: "It's always going to be a slow process, taking time for people, including the trade, to catch up with what is going on, but we are getting there and we just need to keep educating and showing what is going on."

There are signs that perception is changing. Richards highlighted a Decanter survey of its typically more wine engaged readers that found a majority saying that they thought Chile offered the best value in the £10 to £15 price bracket - a considerable margin above the old perception of Chile as a purveyor of good value entry level wines.

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