What is the secret to old vines? Have you heard of Chile’s Pais grape variety? Wine writer Amanda Barnes visits J Bouchon with owner Julio Bouchon and winemaker Felipe Ramirez to discover Chile’s oldest variety – Pais – and how to make a wild and natural red wine from vines that are over 100 years old in Maule, southern Chile, and others that grow wild in the trees! Check out our video interview about the making of Bouchon País Salvaje in Maule!
Recorded in 2015, just after the first vintage of País Salvaje
Interview on País and País Salvaje with Julio Bouchon and Felipe Ramirez at Bouchon Family Wines
Amanda: I’m here with Felipe and Julio from Bouchon Family Wines, and we’re in the middle of Maule. Can you tell us what this big, fat vine is?
Felipe: This is one of the oldest varieties that you can find in Chile. It is called País.
And what is País, for someone that’s never had a Pais wine before?
Julio: Pais is the variety that the Spanish brought from the colony for religious purposes. So that’s why it is very old. And they arrived in the Maule region at that time.
Super, so how old would this one be, for example?
F: It must be more than 100 years old.
And what happens to a vine when it is old? How are old vines different to young vines?
F: Well, vines are like people! When it is old, it starts to give you the best – to give you more concentrated and balanced grapes. So you can make more concentrated and balanced wines.
So what does Pais taste like? How would you describe your old vine Pais wine?
J: Pais is very rustic. It’s very funky, it does not have a deep colour, but the tannins are sharp. So it gives a lot of energy to the wine, if it’s in a blend or if it’s 100% Pais.
So these are all your Pais vines here, old vines in this VSP form, but you also have a País Salvaje! Do you want to show us your Pais Salvaje?
J: So here we have the creek, coming through the natural forest, down to the valley. And in between these native trees we have the Pais vines growing up through the trees in a natural way. So in the spring, or the summer, you find the bunches hanging out over all these trees. In a completely natural [uncontrolled] way.
So this was the first year that you vinified these vines, and it is difficult to see in the winter, but they are here between the trees. What is the difference between the quality of the grapes, or the characteristics that you find from Pais grapes that grow wild in the trees, compared to old vines of Pais here on the flat valley floor?
F: Well, to vinify in this way was completely new for all of us. So at the beginning, we thought ‘well, let’s try and we will see!’ And then we realised that we could get very good quality, very good colour, very fine aromas, and we decided to make the wines in a more traditional way.
I think that you can make very good wines in that way. In a small production, of course. So finally, we realised right now that the wine was pretty good with very good and fine aromas.
And how do you think this Pais got here, in the forest?
J: Well, in a natural way too – you have birds bringing seeds to here. And here there is a creek too which has water during the spring, in the summer it is dry but during the spring there is flowing water. So the soil, the water and the seeds all mix and in the end you can get some plants!
F: It’s called Pais Salvaje. From Bouchon!
Read more about Bouchon Family Wines and see their own videos of the making of Pais Salvaje!