Gain An Appreciation For Chilean Wine

Since the introduction of the Spanish vine in the 16th century, Chile has gone on to become one of the world's most famous wine producers. Although often overshadowed by its European competitors, Chilean wine has gradually grown in mainstream popularity and today is available on most supermarket shelves.

As Spain colonised Chile, Spanish settlers, particularly missionaries, were keen to introduce the vine to Chile. Eager to use the wine for the Eucharist, the first vineyards were originally managed by Jesuit priests.

While Spain originally introduced the vine to Chile, it was France who would have the greatest impact on wine production within the country. Many Chilean farmers, believing France to be the greatest wine producer, travelled to Bordeaux to familiarise themselves with the region's expert techniques. The relationship with French vineyards meant that by the middle of the eighteenth century, many Chilean vineyards were producing French grape varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.

Today, Chile offers more than 20 different types of grape, although Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot remain the most common. Chilean farmers are also keen to experiment with different grapes, and some farmers are even growing the Gewurztraminer and Viognier varieties; however, these are yet to be produced on a large scale.

One of Chile's biggest wine claims is its rare cultivation of the Carmenere grape. In the 20th century, many wine experts doubted the Chilean wines which were labelled Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc. Keen to get to the bottom of this, Ampelographers were hired to run tests on the wines and vines used in production.

The results found that the Merlot was actually an ancient Carmenere vine which had been brought over from the Bordeaux region and had been thought to now be extinct, while the Sauvignon Blanc vines were the Sauvignonasse vine. Since then, Chilean farmers have successfully introduced the Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc vines, while France has been able to re-introduce the Carmenere grape.

Although never placed within the realm of luxury wine, Chile has begun to develop an international reputation as a quality wine producer. In 2004 at the Berlin Wine Tasting competition, 36 experts from different countries across Europe participated in a blind-tasting competition. Chile picked up the first and second prize leaving France and Italy to fight for third place. This act was closely followed in 2005 where Chile picked up five of the seven awards, whilst in the Tokyo Wine Tasting of 2006 Chile picked up four out of five awards.

The success from these competitions and an ever-growing number of available flights to Chile has seen many European wine producers visiting Chile to learn from the production techniques of Chilean wineries.

From humble beginnings as Eucharist wine, Chilean wine has grown to become one of the finest quality wines in the world. With such prestigious awards to back its success, it's easy to see why Chilean wines have become so popular.