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I wrote last week that I have just returned from a trip to Chile, my first visit there. I was fortunate to have been chosen as one of the nine judges for the Annual Wines of Chile competition. For more on the competition, and for a list of the wines which won awards, the Wines of Chile website at www.winesofchile.org is very helpful, well laid out and user-friendly.

Chile has been making wine since the arrival of the Spanish in the 1500s. As with California, the Pais grape (also know as Mission) was the first to be planted. While the history books tell us that wine was made in order that the priests could say Mass, the size of the vineyards planted reminds us that the Spanish were wine drinkers at home, and wanted wine in the New World, too. Early attempts to grow wine making grapes in other Spanish holdings such as Mexico, the Caribbean and Peru were unsuccessful, but Chile proved to have several areas that were ideal for vitis vinifera, and wine making quickly became an important part of the Chilean economy.

In the mid 1800s, French grape varietals began to arrive in Chile, many originally brought from Europe for research and experimentation by Claudio Gay of the University of Chile’s Quinta Normal agricultural school. Soon after, Silvestre Ochagavia began to introduce such well-know European varietals as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Carménère (soon to be abandoned in Bordeaux, but destined to become Chile’s “signature” wine grape), Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon and Riesling. The quality of the wines made from these grapes led to their becoming more widely planted, and today it is rare to find any wine made from the Pais grape.

During this expansion of fine wine making, many of the wealthiest families in Chile planted vineyards on the land surrounding their homes, and serving fine wine from your own vineyards came to be seen as one of the ultimate forms of hospitality. Many of the finest wines being made in Chile today are from these same vineyards, and the pride that the families take in their wines is evident.

The Modern Era for winemaking in Chile began during the 1970s, when restrictive domestic regulations were repealed and the government made it easier for Chile’s wines to be exported. The United States and the United Kingdom became, and remain, Chile’s primary importers of wine. Spain’s Miguel Torres set up his family’s first New World venture in the Curicó Valley, and his modern winery, complete with temperature controlled stainless steel fermentation tanks, became the model for many of today’s wineries. Wineries were updated, and native Rauli wood tanks were soon replaced by stainless steel, and French and North American barrels came into use for barrel ageing fine red wines.

The next step in modernization took place in the vineyards. New grape varieties, as well as newer clones of existing varieties, were planted. Drip irrigation, using the amazingly clean water that comes from melting glaciers high in the not-too-distant Andes came into use, as well as more modern vertical trellising, which replaced the colorful but inefficient Ramada system. Better grapes and a better yield became the norm.

It was during this time that Carménère came into its own. Carménère is a Bordeaux grape, which needed more sunlight and warmth than the usual Bordelaise summer provides. After the Phylloxera blight of the mid 1800s hit France, Carménère was almost never replanted in Bordeaux and it came to be referred to as an extinct grape. In a fortuitous mistake, it was discovered that many of the vines planted in Chile as Merlot were actually Carménère. There are still vineyards where Carménère and Merlot are planted together, but newer plantings keep the two vines separate, and the grapes are usually vinified separately. Today, no other country produces Carménère as fine as does Chile.

In a search for land which will grow great grapes, grapes that will express “terroir”, Chile today is expanding the area under vine, often returning to sites originally planted by the earliest Spanish settlers. The Elqui Valley in the north, Bio-Bio in the south, and Osorno in the foothills of the Andes in the east are areas to watch. Their wines are doing very well and should continue to improve.

Chile has a well-deserved good reputation in the American market. The wines that have been exported to us, since the earliest days of their arrival, have been well made wines, and have been good values. Many $8 wines from Chile beat the pants of more expensive wines from California, Australia, France, Italy and Spain. Wine drinkers who have had such positive experiences drinking these everyday-affordable Chilean wines do not hesitate when a more expensive wine from the same winery is offered. Good marketing? No... GREAT marketing!

©2007 The Brooklyn Paper