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Chile's climate is different from Argentina, which produces more textured wines, he notes. "The aromatics are more intense in Chilean wine." Carmenère, Chile's spicy, signature varietal, has "a really particular flavor profile—not everyone gets it," says Brett Jackson Powell, chief winemaker for Valdivieso Vineyard in Santiago. Turner, managing director of Montes Premium Wines. And some of its wines from those varietals that Chile was less familiar with, such as pinot noir, were not great a few decades ago. But Chile is getting a better understanding of pinor noir—where to plant it, when to pick it, Turner says. Chile is a very young producer of pinot noir, concurs Matías Alberto Garcés Silva, partner and executive director of Amayna in San Antonio, Chile. "In the 1980s, we didn't have too much history with pinot noir. But now we have been doing a lot of planting," and the product is much better. "The first pinot noir I had in Chile disgusted me," says Brett Jackson Powell, chief winemaker for Valdivieso Vineyard and a native New Zealander. But pinot noir has a great future in Chile, he notes. "We now understand the different areas, and the [pinot noir] vines are starting to get some age on them." Chile is more of a cool-climate than people realize, Powell says. "The air movement from the Humbolt Current and the snow on the mountains has a cooling effect on summer." 32 | SEPTEMBER 2013 CARMENÈRE CLOSEUP It's not just the newer varietals that have posed a struggle. Many Chilean winemakers are still trying to master carmenère, the country's signature grape. "Carmenère was an ugly duckling—juicy but flat—it was hard to get fresher flavors," says Rafael Urregola winemaking manager Underraga. "But we are learning." One of carmenère's challenges is that it's "a big berry that doesn't have a lot of structure," Urregola says. "It has a peppery herbal character," and should be picked on the edge of greenness to retain the freshness, he notes, although some other winemakers swear by picking carmenère later in the season. Carmenère is green, hard to grow and has very low yields, says Andres Caballero, winemaker director for Carolina Wine Brands. "About eight years ago, we understood that carmenère needs a certain kind of soil, with green leaves all the time." The character of carmenère is a lot of fruit and spice and backbone, says Christian A. Wylie, commercial director of Carolina Wine Brands. "It took a good 10 years to get right. There is a lot of better carmenère getting to the market now." For certain, says Matias Rios, winemaker for Cono Sur Vineyards & Winery, "We are just now starting to show the potential of carmenère from Chile." LESS OAK, MORE FRUIT Winemakers in Chile used to be very aggressive with oak, says Margozzini of MontGras, but now they're cutting back and focusing more on expressing the fruit. When you have good fruit, he notes, "all you have to do is not screw it up." Jorge Gutierrez, winemaker at Montes USA, notes that working in California, "it was amazing to see the changes in chardonnay in the past five years" in terms of oak use. "Here in Chile, we have made changes to show the fruit more." Also, oak will mask issues with the wine. "As a winemaker, sometimes you try to fix fruit problems with oak," says Flaherty says. The hard work should be happening in the vineyard. Speaking of hard work, "harvest in Chile is a form of torture for winemakers—it's too long," Flaherty says. In 2013, for instance, the harvest started the last weekend in February for sparkling wine grapes and went to the last week in May with picking the carmenère. What's more, it was a hard season, with a lot of rain in December "and in January we didn't see the sun for three weeks," says Ignacia Casali Larrain, vitcultor with Amayna. On the up side, "the most difficult vintages produce the best wine," notes Amayna's winemaker Francisco Ponce. Indeed, 2013 was a cold year with a delayed harvest—both good conditions for wine, says Cono Sur's Rios. "I think 2013 will be one of the best years for Chilean wine." www.cheersonline.com

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