“Pinot Noir without terroir is the most boring variety you can taste”, says Chilean winemaker Alejandro Galaz, paraphrasing a winemaker he met while visiting the mecca of Pinot Noir, Burgundy, in order to learn more about this coy and demanding variety. “So for us, expressing the place the grapes come from has become the most important thing today.”
He’s talking about Viña Ventisquero’s mission to make Pinot Noir in three very different coastal climates of Chile — an adventure which has taken almost two decades to unfold ever since the winery was first established in 1998.
One of Chile’s modern and large players today, Ventisquero makes wine all over the country — from some of the northernmost territories in the Atacama region down to Colchagua. “The philosophy of the owner from the beginning was to deliver the best quality for the final consumer, and so we had to plant in the best places in Chile for the variety,” explained Alejandro. “We are constantly exploring!”
Having made wine with Ventisquero since 2001 (with a brief spell elsewhere in the middle), Alejandro has earned the title of the winery’s ‘cool climate specialist’ and he takes charge of most of the coastal wines, which includes all of their Pinot Noir production.
Ventisquero’s hunt for perfect Pinot territory has taken them to three different coastal regions in Chile, which is what I tasted with Alejandro on a Zoom tasting last week (COVID-19 style):
