South America - Chile
Chilean wines have got the best of both worlds - the ripe fruit flavours
of Australia combined with the depth and complexity of France. Having
had success at the inexpensive end of the market Chile is beginning to
make its mark in the premium sector. It is a country with huge potential
and we can only guess what the future holds with investment from
prestigious overseas producers such as Mondavi in the USA, Châteux
Lafite Rothschild from Bordeaux and Torres in Spain.
A long, thin country, Chile benefits from two important natural barriers. With 3,000 miles of coastline to the west and the Andes to the east, these natural barriers have been key factors in protecting the industry from the root eating aphid phylloxera that devastated Europe's vineyards. Without phylloxera Chile has had no need to graft its vines to resistent American rootstocks and has a heritage of ungrafted vines that can live up to four times longer than their grafted counterparts - sometimes more than 100 years old.
The Central Valley is the most important region in terms of tradition, quantity and quality. Furthermore, it enjoys a Mediterranean climate with hot dry summers tempered by sea breezes and the proximity of the snow capped Andes. The end result is grapes that are fully ripened whilst still retaining natural balancing acidity.
The Los Vilos label, made by Concha y Toro, offers fruit driven wines with surprising elegance for such a keen price. Cousiño Macul, Chile's second oldest winery and one of Chile's greatest producers makes wines of real class. Cousiño Macul, Antiguas Reservas Cabernet Sauvignon offers deliciously concentrated pure black currant fruit and hints of fresh mint.
Chilean wines are fantastic food wines. The reds go wonderfully well with lamb and the whites are wonderful with seafood and salmon.
