2020-05-31_Wine_Spectator

78 WINE SPECTATOR • MAY 31, 2020

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In the south, vintners are intrigued by the possibilities of ex-

ploiting old, historic vineyards that predate Chile’s modern wine-

making revolution, which began in the 1980s. Planted to southern

French and Spanish varieties, these sites are the inspiration be-

hind bottlings such as the Odfjell Carignan Maule Valley Orzada

2018 (90, $22), which comes from a once-abandoned, century-old

vineyard of bush-trained Carignan that Odfjell has revitalized and

now grows organically. This crisp red is filled with dark berry, spice

and slate flavors.

“We’ve taken the borders to a new extreme in the last five years.

Exciting wines are coming from the Atacama Desert, the most

arid in the world. Fresh and pure wines from Patagonia are com-

ing to light. Wines are [grown] closer to the Pacific than ever, and

there are vineyards planted at 7,000 feet above sea level in the

Andes,” says Julio Alonso, executive director of trade organiza-

tion Wines of Chile USA.

“There is a conversation about diversity, heritage and innova-

tion that is extremely active today in Chile,” he continues. “Not

only in relation to so-called cepas patrimoniales, or heritage vari-

eties of more than 400 years [of history] planted in Chilean ter-

ritory, but also with respect to traditional Chilean varieties such

as Carmenère.”

Without a doubt, one of Chile’s biggest strengths is its diverse

winemaking landscape, where a wide range of grapes grow in a

largely beneficent climate.

This environment offers

wineries as different as

Concha y Toro (Chile’s

largest producer) and

Odfjell (founded by a

Norwegian shipping mag-

nate) plenty of room for

research and develop-

ment, with new discover-

ies continuing to push the

nation forward.

What hasn’t changed,

however, is the river of

high quality, big-flavored

reds that flows from the

country, many of them

from the traditional heart-

land just to the south of

the burgeoning capital of

Santiago. This is where

the vineyards of the Maipo

Valley, rooted in gravels

and rocks washed down by

the towering Andes, pro-

duce some of Chile’s best

reds based on Cabernet

Sauvignon. The region is

rivaled only by the Col-

chagua Valley farther

south, where Cabernet is

joined by Carmenère,

Chile’s distinctive red

variety, to yield a raft of high-scoring blends. Other leading regions

include the Aconcagua Valley to the north of Santiago and the

Casablanca Valley to its east.

S

ince my previous report (“Age of Exploration,” May 31, 2019),

I’ve tasted approximately 160 Chilean wines in our Napa of-

fice, significantly fewer than usual. Beginning in mid-October,

Chile has been struck by waves of civil unrest that have roiled

the country. The disturbances have continued into early 2020,

though at a lower volume, and even though most wineries are

catching up with backlogs, there are still ripple effects as a result

of labor actions shutting down port facilities and protesters block-

ing roads.

The most recent vintages in the pipeline are 2018 and 2019.

2018 saw a return to normal yields and moderately cool tempera-

tures, which came as a relief for vintners after a pair of problem-

atic harvests. In fact, 2018 promises to be the best year since 2015

in terms of both quality and quantity, with the first releases show-

ing structure and concentrated flavors. (A free alphabetical list

of scores and prices for all wines tasted is available at WineSpec

tator.com/ChileAlpha053120.)

The 2019 vintage looks to deliver high quality as well, but

yields were down as much as 30% due to winter drought and sum-

mer heat spikes. “The year 2019 will show exceptional red wines

in coastal areas,” says De Martino winemaker Marcelo Retamal.

“For the rest, they will be wines of good ripe fruit and of shorter

Puerto Montt

Elquí

Limarí

Choapa

Aconcagua

Casablanca

San Antonio /

Leyda

Cachapoal

Colchagua

Itata

Curicó

Bío Bío

Maule

Malleco

Maipo

0 miles^50

La Serena

Valparaíso

San AntonioSantiago

Rancagua

Santa Cruz

Curicó

Talca

Concepción

Traiguén

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CHILE'S

MAJOR WINE

REGIONS

Osorno

CHILOÉ

ISLAND

Chiloé

Island

Mechuque

Pacific

Ocean

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Eduardo Chadwick, a trailblazer in Chilean wine, made the top bottling of this report

from his 37 - acre vineyard in the Puente Alto subdistrict of the Maipo Valley.

WS053120_chileRev.indd 78 3/18/20 10:10 AM