If you’re a lover of great-tasting sustainable wine, Chile is a region you should learn more about. Making 74% red wine and 26% white wine, Chile grows your favourite grape varietals.
Home to the world’s largest desert, 2 900 volcanoes, and pure snow mountain meltwater from the Andes, Chile is ideal for making world-class wines that are complex, fresh and elegant.
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In an attempt to learn more about the region and its wine-growing ethos, I sat down with Noella Orts, the winemaker at Emiliana Organic Vineyards to discuss organics, sustainability, as well as the impact of climate change on grape growing in Chile.
Noella Orts
Orts has been making wine at Emiliana since 2011 and has done vintages around the world. She also has a Master’s Degree in Enology and Viticulture. “Chile has so much to offer and will surprise the world!” she says.
Located on the western edge of South America, Chile is an isolated paradise for grape growing. Bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Andes Mountains to the east, the Patagonian ice fields to the south, and the Atacama Desert to the north – it’s a truly wondrous and magical place making world-class wines.
“Chile has truly amazing spots for growing vines,” she states. “From the volcanic soils to the high altitude vineyard sites, as well as vineyards that are closer to the Pacific Ocean, not to mention on the limestone valley of Limari and further south too, specifically into the freshness of the Bío-Bío or Malleco Valleys.”
The illumination of the sun in Chile allows for grapes to grow to full fruit maturation. The Andes Mountains and Pacific Ocean offer cool breezes to keep the grapes growing in comfortable, cooler climate growing conditions. This blend of sunlight and cool Mediterranean climate give the final wines freshness, structure and balance. Vines are also planted on higher altitude plots and need to struggle to find pure water to grow supple and complex berries – making the final juice world-class.
Eighty-three per cent of all wines exported from Chile are Certified Sustainable. Many bottles from this region are also labeled organic too, and are available across Canada.
“A farming philosophy that works hand in hand with nature, taking care of it and caring about workers and consumers, is extremely valuable and beneficial for the health of the people and nature.”
Responsible for creating Emiliana’s world-class quality biodynamic wines, Coyam and Gê, Orts believes the future of wine growing in Chile is all about organics.
“We can’t deny that the climate crisis, and all of us are responsible for our environmental impact, and that’s why we need to do something to help mitigate it. We at Emiliana strongly believe that the future is organic.”
With climate change undeniable around the world, the future of vine growing is also changing with a modern approach. “For us, today more than ever, it makes sense to teach others that there are other models of agriculture to implement other than the ones we always had been told or were taught.”
“When you work with nature, your vineyard becomes more resilient to unexpected events. For example, the skins of your berries become thicker due to balanced nutrition with compost, so they can cope better with strong rains.” explains Orts. Allowing the vines to develop their own sense of natural resistance and adaptation while fostering a holistic environment is crucial to creating a sustainable future, while trying to adapt to climate change.
“Climate change affects the availability of water.” Says Orts. “Water is becoming a scarce resource and we have been facing severe drought for the last 10 years. In the Central Valley, during summer, we can have daily heat spikes with temperatures above 35°C; also bushfires are unfortunately even more common now. Spring seasons have changed in the last few years; they are shorter and cooler, with more frost events than before. This is not an easy scenario for agriculture.”
“We are constantly learning and researching techniques that allow us to grow vines with less use of water,” she says. “We use humidity probes to make better irrigation decisions and we are focused on improving water retention in our soils with cover crops and the use of compost.”
The use of cover crops minimizes erosion and decreases soil temperature that is beneficial both for the vines and for soil microbes; this also encourages biodiversity, helping to create a more balanced ecosystem for the plant to thrive.
“We know the importance of biodiversity, working on the conservation of our natural landscapes by creating biological corridors with native and endemic plants. We are always searching for an equilibrium, the balance of nature.”
Chilean Challenges
Climate change has affected Chile (and many regions differently), but there are always challenges to be aware of and consider.
“We have many challenges,” says Orts. “Among them are the water source, soil regeneration, how to increase and maintain biodiversity, how to reduce CO2 emissions and in terms of people, the migration of people from the countryside to the cities. These challenges are not exclusive to sustainable agriculture, they are challenges for any agricultural activity.”
Chile also has the most ungrafted vines on earth. Ungrafted vines are the most original and natural place for vines. Non-grafted vines tend to develop their root system in a deeper way, so they can be closer to the “mother” rock. Grafted vines are man-made to protect the vine from pests and disease. “It is very difficult to say if a grafted or non-grafted vine is better than the other, because most of the non-grafted vines in Chile are older vines, so you need to consider the age variable into the equation regarding quality.“
The Grape
Although it’s hard to say which is better – ungrafted versus grafted vines – one can’t deny that original rootstocks are utterly fascinating. Take Chile’s signature red grape Carmenere. Originally from the Bordeaux region of France, and unfortunately destroyed by the disease phylloxera (a vine-eating louse that has threatened many European grapevines), the grape made its way to Chile where it truly flourishes! Without finding a home in Chile, Carmenere would have otherwise gone extinct. Now planted on mostly original rootstocks, the Carmenere grape in Chile is one of the only few ungrafted vines you can find in the world.
A playful and wonderful red grape that was historically used in blends, Chile has given Carmenere a real personality. It’s a red wine that is enticing, floral, fruity and fresh.
Orts says that “beyond the rootstock, I think it is much more important to choose the right place to grow, with an exciting soil, with the right grape variety, and with the best agriculture management, that for me, of course, is organic and biodynamic.”
With the change in climate around the world and as well as in Chile, man and nature must work together for a fruitful future, and it all starts with looking at sustainability from a 360-degree lens. A world leader in sustainability, Chile is doing its part to understand and work with vines and mother nature, and that is something we can all cheer for.
