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Wines Of Chile: The Long Road To Fame

  • Blanca Valbuena
  • July 6, 2011

A good wine couldn’t be referred to without the perfect blend of wine ingredients known as grapes and the wine bottling equipment, wine bottles, and wine bottle labels from world-class winemakers.

With a long viticultural history under its name, it’s no shocker that Chilean wines are reaching global popularity. Seated in South America near the Pacific Ocean and the Humboldt Current, Chile’s unique and perfect combination of geography and great climate make it a suitable place for growing wine grapes to produce world-class wines despite belonging to a new world wine region. When this region was colonized by the Spanish conquistadores during the 16th century, the conquerors brought with them Vitis vinifera vines, thus, began the saga of Chile’s wine industry. Spanish Missionaries who were traveling along with the conquistadores, were one of the first settlers in Santiago, Chile. They started planting their sacred wine grapes on the land they were temporarily occupying. Not so soon after, the farmers in the area started planting wine grapes and the rest was history.

Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot grapes were among the first varieties of French wines to be introduced in the mid 19th century. The fact that Chile has a diverse landscape that offers an array of different terroirs and soil types, it means that its lands were good enough for planting a lot of wine grape varieties and producing different kinds of wines. Even with the dry conditions in certain regions, irrigation is not a problem. With the use of melting snow caps in the Andes, they were able to sustain the vineyards in the areas, most of which are Chilean premium wine regions.

Throughout the years, Chilean winemakers have been able to achieve the standards of producing world-class wines and spirits and are already competing with other international wine industry players in the market. In 1998, Chile became the third largest U.S. wine import source producing 5.3 million 12-bottle cases of wine annually.   Years of experience, the distinct richness in flavor and the color of Chilean wines have proved to be sellable in the international wine industry. They have also ventured into revolutionizing their wine making techniques with the use of smaller high-quality American and French oak barrels and even using computerized stainless steel fermenting tanks to control the temperature for the preservation of Chile’s grapes’ exquisite, natural fruitiness and flavor.

Let us get to know the prime movers of Chile’s wine making with the top 5 premier wines and winemakers.

Agustinos Gran Reserva 2007 Pinot Noir. Made from 100 % Pinot Noir grapes and having a vibrant burgundy structure to it, this full-bodied red wine definitely captivated the hearts of many wine lovers around the world. What also interests others is the fact that it plays with the drinker’s palate, despite  being aged in French oak barrels. There’s a balance between being too heavy and too sweet in its flavor even with the 13.7% of alcohol content. It’s velvety texture, balanced acidity, and richness make up for a good wine for early drinking. This has a good wine companion in meat or cheese.

Concha y Toro 2006 Don Melchor Cabernet Sauvignon. Get a taste of one of Chile’s best tasting wines with Concha y Toro Don Melchor cabernet sauvignon. This is said to be the maximum expression of the Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon along with Puente Alto, the terroir of this variety of wine grape in Chile. It’ll surely keep your   palate guessing with its mix taste of cedar, tobacco, mocha, and blackcurrant, all in a polish- finished glass of wine. It has a full-bodied sweet flavor (not in a fruity way) with layered complexity. This world-class Chilean brand of Cabernet Sauvignon presents an impressive power for vintage wines. Together with its outstanding distinctive balance in flavors, this brand of wine placed Chile in the ranks of the best producers of Cabernet Sauvignon wines in the world.

Wines Of Chile: The Long Road To FameConcha y Toro Terrunyo 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon. If you love the fruity red wine, you will surely love this C&T version of Cabernet Sauvignon variety. The Terrunyo 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon will excite your palates with its full and ripe raspberry and blackberry flavors with a hint of cassis. It also expresses black cherry notes with good structure and character, as all wines from Concha y Toro do.

Anakena ONA Syrah. Its deep ruby red color, intense and complex at the nose with hints of blackberry and dark chocolate and spices is something that will be a hit for wine connoisseurs and lovers all over the world. The richness of its flavors with striking features of blue and black fruit flavors and a hint of overripe currant fruit with a long finish will surely leave a delicious fine wine impression. The juiciness of all the flavors plays with your taste buds, having a lot of sweet mid-palate fruit and texture with fine- grained tannin bringing your wine experience to a whole new level.

Casa Lapostolle Clos Apalta 2005. Aromas of velvety taste of currant, cassis bush, fig paste, licorice and bramble make up this high-class Chilean wine. A blend of wine grape varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Carmenere provides richness in the flavors with the addition of Petit Verdot, make the heady aroma and red dark hue. This brand of wine helped establish Chile as one of the world’s premier red-wine producing regions. Casa Lapostolle Clos Apalta 2005 is one of the Chilean wine makers and brands that are highly recommended from wine connoisseurs all over the world.

Grapes make up a good wine and exploiting the perfect climate to grow varieties of wine grapes, Chile has certainly evolved and continues to evolve as a premier wine-producing region. With its wine industry leveling up its standards, its competency in producing and exporting world-class wines will surely mark them in the wine making landscape of the world. Let the wine spectator ratings speak of the wines of Chile which wine drinkers would definitely agree with.

 

 

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