Chile has an ideal climate and terrain to grow wine grapes. With nearly 500,000 acres of vineyards, it produces a wide variety of grapes for domestic wine production and export.
History
Farmers have cultivated wine grapes in Chile since the mid-1500s, when Spanish conquistadores brought vinifera (wine-grape) vines and seeds to the region. Today, Chile is known for producing large crops of wine grapes and exporting good-value wine.
Red Grapes
Chile's vineyards produce mostly red-wine grapes. Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenere and Merlot are the main varieties.
A Rare Grape
Carmenere has become Chile's most-notable wine grape. In the early 1990s, a French oenologist discovered that many of the grapes that had traditionally been called Merlot in Chile were actually a related grape, originally from France, called Carmenere. Because a widespread phylloxera infestation wiped out Carmenere in Europe in the late 1800s, Chile now produces almost all Carmenere grapes grown worldwide.
Pais
Pais, a rustic red grape related to California's Mission grape, is also grown widely. Vintners use it to make a simple bulk wine for domestic consumption.
White Grapes
Sauvignon Blanc is by far the most common white-wine grape in Chile. Moscatel Alejandria, Riesling, Gerwurtztraminer and Viognier are grown in much smaller quantities.
Tags: wine grapes