Chilean wines were discovered between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries when the first governor of Chile, Pedro de Valdivia praised the quality of Chilean soil in his letters to King Carlos V. Influenced by the economy and culture of the new European powers, Chile imported the first fine varieties of French grapes in 1830, but it was not until 1885 when the great vineyards of Chile first began to emerge.
These included: Concha y Toro, Errázuriz, Undurraga, Cousiño Macul, Vergara Strap, Ossa Subercaseaux, Santa Ana, Tocornal, Ochagavía and Santa Carolina.
Famous international vineyard owners began to see the potential of Chilean soil, most notably the Spanish entrpreneur Miguel Torrers, who introduced modern winemaking technology to Chile and stainless steel and French oak barrels. Inspired by the technological revolution, Torrers built what was at the time the most modern warehouse of stainless steel barrels in South America.
In the 1990’s a greater enthusiasm began to form, when more than one hundred Chilean vineyards began to export their products worldwide, turning Chile into the fifth largest wine exporter and showing a new face of Chile to the world.
Chile is a large and thin strip, located at the southwestern tip of South America. The north is characterized by the most barren desert of the world, while the South is overwhelmed with huge passages of water and icebergs. The cold Pacific Ocean currents and the snow that covers all the high summits of the Andes mountain chain create Chile’s widely varying climate.
Despite its extremes in some areas, the Chilean climate generates warm Mediterranean-style rain patterns. The dry and prolonged summer, high solar radiation and remarkable wide thermal range are three characteristics of Chile that allow us to plant wine-yielding grapevines between latitudes 30º and 36º South.
The wide thermal range is marked by extremely low minimum temperatures during the season of grapes maturity: between 46.4ºF on the coast and 57.2ºF in the interior.
The lack of rain in summer and the start of autumn, guarantees very favorable growing conditions, lowering the risk of Botrytis (grape rot) and Mildew (a fungus that produces a superficial growth on organic matter.)
Rainfalls in the Chilean wine region vary between 250 and 800 mm per year, from north to the south, which results in obligatory irrigation in most of the territory.
The coastal climate of the southern Chilean vineyards zone (San Antonio Valley, Casablanca Valley and Bío-Bío) are more favorable for planting white wine grape varietes such as Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay, and reds such as Pinot Noir. These unique climate conditions create mature and eloquent wines, with an acidity that revitalizes their personality and assures a great bottle life.
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