Written for The Drinks Business, October 2014
Chile is well-known for the concentration of its wine production, allowing the country to make consistent wine at competitive prices.
But emerging is a new wave of boutique projects from the full length and breath of the country, resulting in original blends from little-known places. The source of such novelty is a broad range of personalities, all of whom are driven by a desire to celebrate Chileās vinous diversity.
Louis-Antoine Luyt
āItās a little odd talking about all this stuff [natural wine] from a Chilean point of view, since every single peasant here makes natural wineā¦ā says Louis-Antoine Luyt about his winemaking in Maule. Using traditional countryside techniques like pressing grapes by hand through canes, crushing grapes by foot and plowing his dry farmed vineyards by horse, Luyt is doing nothing new. However by successfully placing his wines in the mainstream, Luyt has become one of the edgiest producers in Chile. āAll my oenologist friends out here think Iām absolutely crazy, and I think this is why I have less and less oenologist friends!ā The Frenchman has however made friends with the growing ānaturalā or garage wine movement in Chile, of which he is unquestionably a leader. Not just championing his own wines, he is also bringing other small producers to the fore with his popular, annual Santiago wine tasting Chanchos Deslenguados.
Rafael Urrejola
Quick to rise to the top, Urrejola is one of the youngest winemakers in Chile to have reached such an esteemed position before he turned 40. Head winemaker of Undurraga, Urrejola has been with the company since 2007 and spearheaded its widely acclaimed Terroir Hunter series which sources site specific grapes from all over the country. āThis range of wine was born to show the huge diversity of origins, area, identities and expressions of Chilean winesā¦ā he says. āWeāre looking for this to be considered as a range that is a reference of Chileās diversity and uniqueness in wines of origin.ā At the helm of one of the most prominent commercial wineries in Chile, Urrejola himself is one of the new references for Chilean wine.
Juan Ledesma
A little bit of madness in the wine world is always welcome, and Ledesmaās project has it by the barrel full. Ledesma makes Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon from old vines in Itata and after tasting each wine he and a local band improvise songs according to each wineās character. The songs are then played on loop for a year by speakers plunged inside the barrel as the wine ages to transform them physically for more aromatic results. Recently bottled, his wines will be launched in early 2015 and are already causing a ripple in the sub-culture. āThe reaction of the public was amazing, from perplexity to tears!ā says Ledesma about a recent tasting in Sao Paulo (one of many which has documented blind tasters noticing the difference between music-aged wines and control wines). Ledesma isnāt stopping at musical wines, but also experimenting with native wood for barrels in search for āa deeper relationship between territory and ancestral cultureā and is making a hybrid beer-wine this year. Whether you find his projects err on the side of madness or of genius, Ledesma is certainly shining a light on the new peripheries of Chilean winemaking.
Felipe MĆ¼ller
Producing some of the most exciting wines in the country with Tabali winery from LimarĆ Valley since 2006, MĆ¼ller has been a forerunner in this cool and dry coastal region whose particular soil type has inspired new vineyard explorations in Chile. āThe most important thing is that in the coastal part of LimarĆ you can find limestoneā¦ in TabalĆ we are specialists in this type of soil, it gives such a different character, quality and ageing potential to the wines, that you canāt believe they are from Chile!ā comments MĆ¼ller. āItĀ“s a new dimension for the Chilean wine category.ā This marked minerality and chalky character has taken Chilean wine in a new direction, and MĆ¼ller isnāt stopping there. As yet unreleased, there are two vintages waiting in the cellar coming from a new area in LimarĆ ā vineyards in the Andes mountains planted in 2010 at 2000m altitude. Weāll see much more from MĆ¼ller yetā¦