Wine: Chile uses old technique against climate change – 08/18/2023 – Market

In the valleys of central Chile, land of grape varieties such as Carmenere, Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot, winemakers harvest at night, use horse manure and rescue ancient techniques to face the lack of water and climate change.

After more than a decade of drought, winemakers in the Colchagua and Cachapoal valleys, located in one of the regions that produce the most wine in Chile, have learned to live with smaller amounts of water.

“We are resuming practices that we probably had before, but on a larger scale and in a systematic way,” Soledad Meneses, head of communication at Viña Conosur, a subsidiary of Concha y Toro, Latin America’s largest producer, told AFP.

The last harvest in March, at the end of summer, was one of the hottest ever recorded in the region. If temperatures continue to rise, the color, acidity and alcohol content of the wine may change in Chile, the world’s fourth largest producer of this drink.

These high temperatures forced producers to migrate to colder regions, such as the island of Chiloé, 1,200 kilometers south of Santiago, where Viña Montes installed its first experimental vineyard, or Patagonia, where wines are already being produced after the thermometers registered between 14 and 32ºC in summer.

regenerative agriculture

The vines in the Apalta da Viña Montes valley grow protected by a vegetation cover that reduces erosion and soil compaction, favoring the proliferation of natural organisms that fight pests. The operation ends up reducing the use of fertilizers and water.

This “more spongy” soil retains more water in the winter and “contributes to lowering the temperature, reducing transpiration and evaporating less water” in the summer, explained Rodrigo Barría, agricultural manager at Viña Montes.

The vines have decreased in size (from 1.20 meters to 80 cm) and are growing among the undergrowth of the site, where water consumption has been reduced by 15%. As a result, the grapes are smaller but of better quality.

“Despite a hot year like the one that happened, we had very good results”, adds Barría.

In Peralillo, the La Playa vineyard uses fertilizers made from horse and cow dung, as well as organic waste from the hotel that operates on site. In addition, hundreds of sheep graze in the fields to keep away the weeds that also grow among the grapes and other fruit trees. The technique saves on herbicides and contributes to the quality of the wine.

In the Conosur vineyard, in Chimbarongo, the pumps that irrigate the site are powered by a photovoltaic plant, which, added to other actions, reduced energy consumption by 38%. Corridors were also built with native species that they grow in their own greenhouse and that help contain frequent forest fires.

The Vik vineyard, in Millahue, in turn, harvests at night and manually to ensure the highest quality of the fruit. The vineyard has also developed a sustainable architecture, with an impressive water ceiling that naturally cools the barrels and the cellar, which is integrated into an exclusive art gallery in your hotel.

“It’s an oenology that doesn’t exist and that tries to do this romantic process of circulating the wine: everything leaves nature and goes back to nature”, says Cristián Vallejo, head oenologist at Vik, which has Brazil as its main market.