Chile

Question 1

Chile Factors affecting temperature / sunlight

Answer 1

• Sparkling grapes grown in areas with cooling influences:
  Key Regions: cooled by the Pacific Ocean:
  Casablanca
  San Antonio (Leyda)
  Limarí
  also:
  Curicó (parts are coastal and cooled by the ocean)
  Bío Bío (southerly latitude, open to the influence of the ocean).

Overall:
* Cooler coast, Andean foothills, milder southern regions
* = Higher acidity

• Inexpensive wines:
  
  • Fruit from warm Central Valley
  • Mostly blends from different valleys
• Moscatel & País:
  
  • Grown in Itata & Maule (historic origins)
  • All regions irrigated except Itata (higher rainfall)

Question 2

Chile regions: premium vs inexpensive

Answer 2

premium: specified regions
Casablanca
San Antonio (Leyda)
Limarí (cooled by the Pacific Ocean)
Curicó (some parts are coastal and cooled by the ocean)
Bío Bío (southerly latitude, open to the influence of the ocean).

inexpensive: blend

Question 3

Chile managing nutrients and water

Answer 3

irrigated in all these areas except for Itata (higher rainfall than the other regions)

Question 4

Chile : canopy management, harvest

Answer 4

Harvest:
from early February until the first week in March (zone dependent).
several weeks earlier than the regular harvest
as expected for sparkling

Question 5

Chile: winemaking: grapes per method?

Answer 5

• Tank method
  
  • 90% of sparkling prod
  • Modern, recently acquired equip = rapid sector growth
  • Chard commonly used; Sauv Blanc also (preserve aromatics)
• Traditional method used for:
  
  • Chard & Pinot Noir
  • País (Blanc de Noirs/rosé)
  • Moscatel

Question 6

Chile: RS, players, export

Answer 6

RS: as in the EU.

export markets wines: mid-priced.

very large companies dominate the market
main producers: Valdivieso (over 33% of sparkl prod.) Viña Mar and Undurraga

domestic sales: ⅔ of prod, growing rapidly (esp. premium)
Exports: grown, Japan by far largest destination, then Colombia, Brazil

Question 7

Chile: dom. market, overal quality and price

Answer 7

Chilean market for sparkling wines is made up almost entirely of domestic products.

Price: most inexpensive, some, especially in export markets, being mid-priced
Quality: acceptable to very good