Ep. 999 Map 20 Chile | Jumbo Shrimp Maps

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Studying to land wine is interesting because it is such a long country, which gets us thinking about how much variation there must be in climate and wines from the north all the way down to the south. That's more than nine hundred kilometers of area covered. On the map, we can see that vineyard areas stretch all the way from about thirty degrees latitude to thirty eight degrees latitude. And of course, Being in the southern hemisphere, this means that the climate shifts from the hot and dry northerly sub zones to the cooler and wetter sub zones in the south. But what is interesting about Chile is that there's also tremendous variation in climate and topography from the west coast to the east coast. We see that the subregions of Chile are all organized on an east west orientation. This is because there are lots of rivers that start in the Andes mountains in the east and drain out to the Pacific Ocean in the west. So the wine subregions in Chile are essentially river valleys, all stacked from the north to the south. We'll talk more about the difference in climate from west to east in a moment. First, let's take a moment to talk about how the vineyard areas are classified in Chile. Here, the vineyard areas are grouped into four main regions, starting with the Kokimbo in the north and down to the southern region. Each region is further divided into subregions. Those east west river valleys that we just talked about, subregions can be even further divided into zones. This is the geographical indication system or GI system that Chile uses to indicate where grapes can come from. We can also keep in mind that these designations might not actually be used most. Let's move on to climate. For each of the four regions, there are different factors that create a climate for growing grapes. We can generally say that the climate is warm Mediterranean and Chile, but there are a few climate factors that provide cooling influences. The first factor is the Pacific Ocean. Off the coast of Chile, the ocean current started its journey in Antarctica. And makes its way up the coast of Chile. Therefore, the winds that blow from the ocean are quite cool. The next factor to influence climate is the coastal mountain range. This is the range of mountains that runs from the top, to the bottom of the country, all along its coastline. These mountains are important for their role to create the climate for each sub zone. That is because coastal mountains can effectively block the cool Pacific air. But in some places, there are gaps in the coastal range that allow that cool Pacific air to reach the western edge of subregions. This is similar to the coastal range mountains in California that also have gaps where cool Pacific air can penetrate inland. We'll discuss this a bit more later. The next climatic factor is the Andes mountain range. This range runs the length of Chile's eastern border with Argentina and provides cool air that drains down the mountains to cool the areas that are close to them. So here we have three climate factors, the cool Pacific air, the coastal mountains that can either block the cool air or present gaps in the coastal mountains for air to enter, and the andes that provide cool air that descends downwards. Let's see how these climate factors come into play for each region in Chile. Let's first look at the Kokimbo region. Here we have gaps in the coastal mountains that allows those cool Pacific winds to penetrate vineyards on the western side of Kokimbo. And the coastal mountains stretch all the way to the Andes range where there is cool air coming down from those mountains. So there are cooling influences coming from the east, that is the Andes, as well as cooling from the west, the Pacific. If there weren't these cooling influences, the climate would be much warmer because here in the north, we're so close to the equator. So with these cooling influences, Coquimbo is a source of quality wine production, Salvña Blanc, Chardonay, and Sarah, are the main varieties grown here. The next region of Akokawa also has important cooling influences. The Pacific Air has a big impact on growing conditions here. The coastal mountains are lower near Casablanca and San Antonio valleys. So cool Pacific air can just sneak over them. And there are also gaps in the coastal mountains there. That allow plenty more cool air into the vineyard areas. Morning fog and cool afternoon winds are a regular occurrence near the coast. Vinyards on the coastal areas are actually some of Chiles, coolest grape growing areas. As a result of this cool area, white wines are dominate here. Subvenue blanc and chardonnay are made in a cooler, more elegant style. Early ripening Pinot noir is also found here. Next, we have the Akkamkawa valley. It lies more inland, so only its western edge is affected by the cool Pacific Air. The eastern edge of the Akankawa valley is cooled by the Andes. And because of this, many growers are planting vineyards higher into the mountains to make more structured and elegant wines. Thank you for listening to Italian wine podcast. We know there are many of you listening out there, so we just want to interrupt for a small ask. Italian wine podcast is in the running for an award, the best podcast listening platform. Through the podcast awards, the people's choice. Lister nominations is from July first to the thirty first, and we would really appreciate your vote. We are hoping our listeners will come through for us. So if you have a second and could do this small thing for us, just head to Italian wine podcast dot com from July first to the thirty first and click the link. We thank you and back to the show. We now can move into the central valley region where the east west orientation of sub zones becomes even more significant. Let's look at the geography of the central valley. There's a wide gap between the coastal mountains and the andes. This big gap is basically a flatter valley floor. This valley floor can get very warm if there is no gap in the coastal mountains to allow cool Pacific air to enter, and the soil is fertile. So it is very easy to grow and ripen grapes on this warm valley floor. So it makes sense that this is where Chile produces the most wine. The vast amount of inexpensive fruity style reds and whites come from the central valley. We see most of Chile's key great varieties here. Cabernet sauvignon, Merlo, Carmen, Sarra, sauvignon blanc, and Chardonnay. Staying in the central valley. Let's now move over to the eastern edge of the valley. Here we are close to the andes foothills. And of course, vineyards benefit from that cool air that descends from the mountains each night. This makes for very different wines apart from the warm and fertile valley floor. Here, near the andes, the grapes have cool temperatures at night. So the acidity levels can stay higher. Tannins will also develop more with a bit of this altitude into the foothills, and the fruit will be a bit leaner, making for more elegant styles near the Andes. Now, let's move over to the western edges of the central valley. We talked about some places that have gaps in the coastal mountains. Therefore, some of that cool air from the Pacific can reach inland a bit. We can see this happening in the western edge of the Colchaewa valley, but coastal mountains generally block the Mipo valley and the Kachapawao valley. So those cooling Pacific winds cannot penetrate inland there. As a result, we will see wine styles here with potentially more fruit character, higher alcohol, and less acidity. So in the central valley, we see such variation in the growing conditions within each sub zone. For example, a wine from the Colchagua could be elegant with higher acidity, but could also be free, more alcoholic, and less structured. This has been a source of frustration for some growers, because there was no way for them to communicate to the consumer what style of wine was in the bottle. But in two thousand twelve, a new classification system was officially introduced to tackle this issue. With this new system, Wines can be labeled with a designation that tells the consumer if the grapes were grown near the Pacific coast, or if they were grown between the mountains, or if they were grown in the east near the Andes. So the terms used are costa for coastal, entre cordillera, for between the mountains, and Andes, for the andes in the east. These new labeling terms are optional for producers to use. They can also be used in all four regions of Chile. Moving a bit more south, let's look at the Curiko and Mali valleys. These sub zones are the sources for high volume inexpensive fruit for blending. In Malay, the climate also gets a bit cooler in water as we move into the south of Chile. So wines will have relatively more acid. This means that great growing can start to happen without relying on irrigation, and there are pockets of very old dry farmed carignan, which can produce intense concentrated wines. So let's look at the Southern region now. We are moving in the direction of Antarctica, so the climate shifts to become noticeably cooler and also wetter. This shift in climate means that we now see cooler climate grapes such as Chardonnay and Pino noir. Aromatic varieties such as riesling and Kvertz demeanor are also grown here with success. Pais is a traditional variety here. It's grown in large amounts for easy drinking styles of wine. But it's also starting to be given attention as a more interesting bottling. There's so much precipitation here in the Southern region that growers do not need to irrigate. Let's contrast that with the most northerly region. In the north, Cokimbo, rainfall is scarce. Irrigation is absolutely necessary for Viticulture to happen, and the source of water for irrigation is runoff water from the Andes mountains. But climate change is threatening that source of water since the snowpack is now much lower and therefore levels of runoff are dropping. So irrigation is expensive and unreliable in the north. This is also a concern in the central valley. This worry about sourcing water is prompting producers to look south for vineyard land, particularly to the wetter sub zones of Itata and bioBO. Let's also remember that in Chile, they are subject to the el nimio and Lanemia climate phenomena. Elmenial years can subject growers to unusually high amounts of rain, and Lanmenia years can cause drought. But since Chile's general climate is dry and sunny, grapes ripen relatively easily. This also reduces pressure of rot and disease. Chile is also unusual because it is free of phylloxera, so growers do not have to graft their vines. However, some producers do graft because it can be an effective way to protect them from other pests, and to curb vine productivity. Lastly, let's look at other terms that can be used on wine labels here. These terms are legally recognized, but have limited meaning. Wine labeled reserva must have a minimum of twelve percent alcohol. This increases to twelve point five percent minimum alcohol for Grand ReserveA wines. Any red wines using the Reserve of Pravada and Grand ReserveA terms must also be aged in Oak for a minimum of six months. Some producers choose to use these labeling terms to differentiate levels of quality in their portfolio. However, the use of these terms is optional, and other producers choose to indicate varying levels of quality by designing their own labels to show this. Thanks for listening to this episode of Italian wine podcast brought to you by Italian wine Academy, offering WSET levels one, two, and three in English. Visit our website at Italian wine Academy dot org for more information and sign up today to start your personal adventure in Global Wine Education right here in the heart of Verona. Remember to subscribe and like Italian wine podcast in us on SoundCloud, Spotify, and wherever you get your pods. You can also find our entire back catalog of episodes at Italianwine podcast dot com, changing. Hi, guys. I'm Joy Livingston, and I am the producer of the Italian wine podcast. Thank you for listening. We are the only wine podcast that has been doing a daily show since the pandemic began. This is a labor of love and we are committed to bringing you free content every day. 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