History
Viticulture has a long tradition here. The first vines were planted in 1551 by the Spanish conqistador Don Francisco de Aguirre de Meneses (1507-1581) in the town of La Serena in the Región de Coquimbo, which was founded in 1543 in the small northern region. These included the Criolla Chica (Listán Prieto), which originated in Spain and is referred to here as País or Negra Antigua (see under Criolla). A few years later, his son-in-law Juan Jufré de Loayza (1516-1578) introduced vines near Santiago in the Maule area. Cheap bulk wine was produced and shipped to Peru and Mexico.
In 1578, the English privateer Francis Drake (1540-1596) captured a ship carrying 1,770 wineskins from Chile to Peru. Chile became an increasing competitor for European wines. For this reason, the Spanish royal family prohibited the planting of further vines in 1620 in order to protect Spain's wine trade with the American continent. In 1830, the government established the Quinta Normal agricultural research station. The French naturalist Claudio Gay (1800-1873) introduced European varieties; by 1850 there were already 70 different ones.
Modern viticulture
In 1851, Bertrand Silvestre Ochagavia Echazareta brought the first noble grape varieties from Bordeaux, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Merlot. Chile began to export wine again and at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1889 there was even a Grand Prix for a Chilean wine. In 1938, prohibitive measures were adopted by the government. The planting of new vineyards was prohibited, wine production was limited to a maximum of 60 litres per citizen and taxes on wine were drastically increased to combat alcohol abuse. This led to a stagnation in viticulture. The ban on planting vineyards was only lifted again in 1974. This led to a great upswing in viticulture.
Miguel Torres Carbó (1909-1991), who founded the Miguel Torres winery near Curicó in 1979, played a major role in this. He was the first in Chile to introduce stainless steel tanks and small barrique barrels. From 1985, new vineyards were planted on a large scale and European quality wine grape varieties were imported. In 1985, the País variety still occupied almost half of the total vineyard area, but today it only accounts for less than 10%. Numerous joint ventures with Californian, French and German partners subsequently led to decisive improvements in quality.
Cultivation areas
Due to the special geographical location of this extremely elongated country (with the Pacific Ocean to the west and the protective Andes to the east), phylloxera has never been able to gain a foothold there. It is assumed that the traditional artificial irrigation (especially in the north, where there is hardly any rain) in the form of flooding of the vineyards repeatedly destroys the few specimens. The Incas had already built an extensive network of canals to irrigate 1.2 million hectares of land. This is why there are still large areas of ungrafted, ungrafted vines in Chile today.
Chile has so far also been spared the fungal disease downy mildew, which is why fewer fungicides need to be used. The vineyards are mainly located at the western foot of the Andes in high river valleys at 600 to 1,000 metres above sea level. The majority are located in the huge Valle Central. They stretch along the mountain range as a narrow band over a length of 1,300 kilometres. The grape harvest begins in mid-February. Due to its large north-south expanse, Chile has different climate zones. The five regions with their wine-growing areas, in order from north to south, are
Atacama
Although grapes are grown in the extremely arid desert region of Atacama, they are not important for wine.
Coquimbo
Viticulture began here in the town of La Serena in 1551. The region is located in the north of Chile on the Pacific about 400 kilometres north of Santiago de Chile. It is divided into three areas: Choapa, Elqui and Limarí. Many areas have a desert-like climate with little rainfall. Around 20,000 hectares of vineyards produce table grapes and base wines for the brandy pisco, which is considered the national drink. The vineyards for wine production cover around 2,300 hectares. Due to the cooling influence of the Andes and the Pacific Ocean, red wine varieties in particular thrive here.
Aconcagua
The region named after the highest mountain in South America at 6,961 metres is located 100 kilometres north of Santiago de Chile. It is divided into three areas: Aconcagua, Casablanca and San Antonio. The orchards and vineyards in the valley of the Río Aconcagua benefit from the mountain's meltwater. The vineyards cover around 5,000 hectares.
Valle Central
This largest wine-growing region stretches from north to south over a length of 1,000 kilometres. In the west, it is separated from the Pacific Ocean by the low coastal mountain range Cordillera de la Costa, while in the east the Andes form the border with Argentina. The climate is predominantly Mediterranean, but the fresh air flowing from the Andes into the vineyards at night provides a cooling effect. The wine varieties cover around 90,000 hectares, while table grapes are grown on a further 50,000 hectares. The region is divided from north to south into four areas: Maipo; Rapel (with sub-areas Cachapoal and Colchagua); Curicó (with sub-areas Teno and Lontué) and Maule (with sub-areas Claro, Loncomilla and Tutuvén).
Valle Sur
The southernmost region comprises around 14,000 hectares of vineyards. It is divided from north to south into the three areas of Itata, Bío-Bío and Malleco. Here there is more rain and less sun with simpler wines than in the more northerly areas. Smaller autonomous vineyards can be found even further south.
Grape variety index
In 2022, the total area under vines was 195,860 hectares, of which 12.4 million hectolitres of wine were produced (see under wine production volumes). A considerable proportion is base wines for the brandy pisco and other products. Around a quarter of the area is table grapes. The list of grape varieties with the top 50 (Kym Anderson):
Wine law
In 1995, a simple and permissive wine law was introduced that defines the wine-growing regions. These wines can be labelled with a Denominación de Origen, but this is more a designation of origin than a proof of quality. The quality wines must have an alcohol content of at least 11.5% by volume (the exception with special authorisation is the Bío-Bío area with only 10.5% by volume). Enriching the must with sugar is prohibited, but acidification (acidification) is permitted.
12 white and 13 red grape varieties may be listed on the label (not, for example, the autochthonous País) if the wine is made from at least 75% of this variety. This 75% also applies to the vintage. The remainder may also be grapes or wines from outside Chile. The designations Reserva, Gran Reserva, Reserva Especial, Reserva Privada, Gran Vino, Selección and Superior on the label can be used as desired and are not subject to any regulations. Pisco (flying bird) refers to the Chilean spirits from the region of the same name in the Zona Pisquera, which must be produced according to special rules.
Producers
There are only around 100 wineries, although some of them are huge; an estate with "only" 100 hectares is considered small. Many wineries also buy in grapes. More and more producers are farming according to the rules of organic viticulture. Well-known wineries include Almaviva, Canepa, Carmen, Carta Vieja, Concha y Toro, Errázuriz (Caliterra, Arboleda), Lapostolle, Los Vascos, Miguel Torres(Torres), Montes, San Pedro, Santa Inés, Santa Monica, Santa Rita, Tarapacá, Terranoble, Undurraga, Valdivieso, Veramonte and Viu Manent. Other businesses are listed in the respective areas.
Valle de Cholchagua: By Elemaki - Own Work, CC BY 3.0, Link
Chile map: CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
Chile wine-growing areas: Trekkingchile
Source 1st chapter: WIKIPEDIA Chile
