Itata is one of Chile’s most unique wine regions with some of the highest concentrations of old vines in the Americas. With bucolic green hills dappled with old vines and colourful farmhouses sitting at the top of each pasture, Itata is a stalwart of artisanal winemaking in Chile.
Guide to Itata in Southern Chile
If you drive around Itata, you’ll pass people travelling by horse and cart, families who make their living by selling their garden vegetables by the side of the road, and craftswomen who make ceramics just as their forbears did. Part of Itata’s charm is this simple way of life, and these small, idiosyncratic vineyards and wine families are a complete contrast to the manicured vineyard rows, industrialised estates and ginormous wineries further north.
The combination of old vines, milder temperatures and this authentic way and pace of life has attracted many of Chile’s top winemakers to venture into Itata to make a host of interesting wines. With a patchwork of coastal hills and river valleys, and a mix of very old and very new vineyards, there is quite a lot of diversity to Itata as a wine region.
Old vines in Itata Valley
Old País and Moscatel de Alejandría vines together account for 70% of Itata’s vineyard area (each with around 3,500 hectares), and are often made into natural or low-intervention wines. There are also excellent wines being made from old vine Semillon, Cinsault and some field blends. Naturally low vigour means these old vines are offering some of the most distinctive, and concentrated, wine styles of Itata.
There are, however, also a handful of new vineyards planted in Itata: including notable wines made from Chardonnay and Riesling.
