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Biodynamic wineries in Chile

by Amanda Barnes March 29, 2019

Not too long ago, biodynamic farming was seen as quackery in Chile. But over the last decade, the number of biodynamic wine producers has more than doubled and there is a growing legion of biodynamic wineries in Chile.

As many of Chile’s wine regions have a dry and sunny climate, it is reasonably easy to produce organic wines in Chile. Taking your production to biodynamic viticulture is now seen as the next step for many Chilean wine producers who are looking to create a sustainable ecosystem. Each year a conference on biodynamic wine in Chile and Argentina is held, where biodynamic producers unite to share their intel and experience.

Here’s a rundown of some of the biodynamic wineries in Chile to look out for.

Biodynamic wines in Chile

Antiyal

Álvaro Espinoza is one of the leading biodynamic wine consultants in Chile and Antiyal is his boutique label, under which he produces excellent wines in Maipo. Family-run, boutique and biodynamic.

Matetic

One of the greatest advocates for biodynamic wines in Chile, Matetic produces biodynamic wines from grapes grown on their 160-hectare estate in San Antonio and Casablanca. They are also one of the top wine tourism hotels and restaurants in the region and they serve organic, and in many cases biodynamic, ingredients from their garden and working farm.

Koyle

Under the hand of Cristóbal Undurraga, Viña Koyle converted their 80-hectare estate into biodynamic and organic farming. Today Koyle produces a range of energetic and vibrant wines in Alto Colchagua.

Lurton: Hacienda Araucano

Hacienda Araucano in Lolol, Colchagua. François Lurton winery in Chile

Francois Lurton’s winery in Chile, Hacienda Araucano, has converted to biodynamic production, much like his winery in Mendoza – Piedra Negra. To taste his biodynamic wines in Chile, you can organise a visit to the winery in Colchagua.

Odfjell

Odfjell winery and vineyards in Maipo and Maule are managed biodynamically and the estate even has their own troop of Norwegian horses to plough the land.

Tipaume

A boutique biodynamic winery in Alto Cachapoal, Tipaume makes two wines – Tipaume and Grez (which is made in clay amphorae). They aim for minimal intervention winemaking and the winery is all underground, so as to intervene as little as possible with the landscape and habitat.

Emiliana

One of the largest organic and biodynamic wine producers in Chile, Emiliana has over 674 hectares that have been certified biodynamic (out of their 908 hectares of vineyards). Emiliana’s consultant winemaker is Chile’s biodynamic guru Álvaro Espinoza.

Lapostolle

One of Chile’s most beautiful vineyard estates, Lapostolle is also one of Chile’s top biodynamic estates. You can taste their organic and biodynamic wines on a special tour of the winery and, if you book a night at their luxury wine lodge, you’ll be treated to a fabulous dinner made with ingredients from their organic, biodynamic kitchen garden.

Montsecano

Focused on Pinot Noir, Montsecano makes minimum intervention, biodynamic wines in Chile. Julio Donoso and Andre Ostertag are the brains behind Montsecano boutique winery in Casablanca.

Argentina Vintage Guide

by Amanda Barnes March 25, 2019

written by Amanda Barnes

The ultimate vintage guide for Argentina: Argentina harvest reports from 2000 to 2022

Although the mainly desertic wine regions of Argentina have a relatively stable weather cycle compared to some Old World wine regions, there are vintage variations in Argentina. The vintage and harvest in Argentina can also vary dramatically across its different regions, meaning one vintage card or vintage score for the year cannot apply for all of Argentina’s wine regions. Here’s the ultimate Argentina vintage guide with in-depth analysis of the latest vintages and harvests and what you can expect in the bottle today.

The South America Wine Guide’s vintage chart for Argentina is based on interviews with winemakers and agronomists across the different wine regions of Argentina, and also vertical tastings of library vintages.

Argentina vintage guide

Argentina’s wine regions span over 2,300km and can be found on the Andean corridor in the west, as well as inland regions in the east and some new vineyards on the coast. The vintage varies depending on the region, so we have tried to separate vintage commentaries depending on the zone.

There are, however, some climatic factors that majorly impact Argentina’s wine regions in general. These influences are described for the regions of Jujuy, Salta, Catamarca, La Rioja, Mendoza, Neuquén and Río Negro (unless otherwise stated):

March 25, 2019 0 comment

Wine glass photography, wine photographer Matt Wilson

Travel Chile Chile Features Travel & Culture

Black, white & wine all over

by Amanda Barnes March 18, 2019

written by Amanda Barnes

Award-winning British photographer, Matt Wilson has been based in Chile since 2003 and is renowned for his adventurous takes at life surrounding wine.

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“I’ll never shoot anyone with their nose in a wine glass,” he says, defiantly avoiding the cliches of wine photography. If you take a flick through his Instagram account, you’ll likely see more wine being thrown out of a glass than being poured into a glass!

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Some of his recent black and white portraits of personalities in Chilean wine (and somewhat further afield) are currently on tour in an exhibition around South America’s wineries and wine regions. Here we take a look at some of the highlights, and Matt explains a bit about the person or story behind the photograph.

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Michel Rolland

“I have known Michel for many years and have photographed him many times. Here I wanted a monochrome straight close portrait. Michel is always easy to photograph and always seems in a good and relaxed mood. This may be because I am not a winemaker, so he can also relax with me. This was shot at Clos Apalta winery.”

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Aurelio Montes

“This is Aurelio Montes. Iconic Chilean winemaker and businessman. I have known Aurelio since moving to Chile 15 years ago. A great friend and a pretty awesome winemaker. Here I photographed him in my studio for an exhibition last year, but the photograph will also go up in my new exhibition in Mendoza later this year.”

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James Suckling

“Here I photographed James Suckling. I film some of the videos for James’ website and know him quite well. Here he is blind tasting wines from Chile. I made this photograph at Montes winery in Apalta, in Colchagua. He has covered the bottles with paper bags. I liked the reflection in this image, and also the fact that James has his eyes closed in concentration.”

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Romina Pérez-Kallens

“Here I have photographed my assistant Romina Pérez-Kallens, she is holding a Lalique 100 point glass and a generic magnum of wine. We used a mirror in my studio to create the reflection.”

“Again this is of the same James Suckling designed 100 point Lalique glasses. These have recently been introduced to the Chilean and Argentinian market. I wanted to make as minimal an image as possible, using glasses and wine, but no labels. The focus is on the glass and bottle with Romina in very soft focus and only showing the tilt of the wine parallel to the open mouth.”

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Marco Puyo

“I photographed Marco in my studio using a mirror as a reflection. We wanted to make the wine without a label to make the image more minimalist. Marco wanted the photo to be quite serious. I have known Marco for around 13 years. When I first met him he was at Los Vascos, then at Viña San Pedro and now he has his own project in Perilillo in Colchagua. A beautiful vineyard and some great wines.”

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Grant Phelps

“I have been photographing winemaker Grant Phelps for about 14 years. I saw a photograph of Salvador Dali taken from above with a fisheye lens. I decided to try it with Grant doing a tasting at his hotel WineBox Valparaiso.”

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Jose (Pepe) Gallante

“I had to photograph Jose for Wine Enthusiast magazine. The afternoon light was great outside the winery’s famous barrel room (Salentein), where some gorgeous popular trees grow. We decided to use the sunlight through the trees as a backdrop. We used a reflector on Jose and after a few minutes, we got this wonderful cheeky smile.”

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You can see more of Matt’s photography on his website.

March 18, 2019 0 comment

Best Malbec from Argentina, Best Cabernet from Chile, Best sparkling wine from Brazil

Chile Argentina Wine

Analysis of top rated and best wines in South America on Vivino

by Amanda Barnes March 13, 2019

written by Amanda Barnes

There’s something I quite like about the Vivino Wine Style Awards, and that is that the winning wines are entirely selected by consumers. Based on the reviews of 35 million users (although some are undeniably more prolific than others!) each year the Vivino tech team take a look at the reviews and ratings of all the wines on the app and tot up the scores to see which wines in which categories came out on top. This includes several categories for the best wines in South America.

This is the fifth year of Vivino’s awards and, as the most-downloaded wine app in the world, it takes into account 120 million ratings. Anyone can add their rating and each opinion holds equal value – no matter if you are a first-time wine buyer or a seasoned wine drinker with 1,000 bottles in one’s cellar.

Vivino is effectively the TripAdvisor of wine, for better or worse. On the downside, a few ratings could destroy the ranking of a wine perhaps because the consumer misunderstood the category or was drinking a faulty bottle. However, on the positive side, the Vivino Wine Style Awards are an unparalleled barometer of what wines are accessible in the global market and which offer enough enjoyment and relative value to be worth the coveted five-star rating.

Appealing to the mass market is also nothing to be sniffed at, and it is certainly harder to make a wine that excites thousands of different palates than a wine that appeases to just one critic. Winning a Vivino Wine Style Award shows that all the cogs of that winery are working together: excellent market positioning, good marketing and global reputation, and, last but certainly not least, making a damn good wine that everyone enjoys.

Here are the highlights of South America’s best-rated wines on Vivino, and arguably the consumers choice of the best wines in South America, with my own verdict of the winners and category.

March 13, 2019 0 comment

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