Aconcagua Region's Climate: Warm Maritime

Warm Maritime

Aconcagua Region's Grapes: Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenere, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah

Cabernet Sauvignon

Cabernet Sauvignon is perhaps the most famous red grape. Its home is Bordeaux where it is was created as a cross between Cabernet Franc (red grape) and Sauvignon Blanc (white grape). Since then its popularity has spread and it is grown all around the world. It prefers warmer climates to ripen fully and even in Bordeaux some years it does not ripen. That is why Cabernet Franc is also used in Bordeaux blends as it ripens faster. What makes Cabernet so popular is not its bouquet, which can range from blackcurrants to cigar box, but its structure, typically having both tannins and acidity to create a smooth feeling in the mouth. The structure allows the blending with other grapes, perhaps the most famous pairing is Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot where the Cabernet provides the structure and the Merlot gives the wine the soft, rounded feel in the mouth. Recently Cabernet has been mixed with Sangiovese (Chianti's grape) to create the SuperTuscans.

Carmenere

Carmenere is a low-yielding, late-ripening red grape that produces deep-coloured, full-bodied wines. It�s at home in Chile, where more than 4,000 hectares of it are planted, chiefly in the Central Valley. But its roots are in the Medoc, surprisingly since there is so little of it in France now. It was cultivated there in the early 18th century and, with Cabernet Franc, made the reputations of this region�s best chateaux. It was also important in Graves but was abandoned in Bordeaux because of its susceptibility to coulure (poor fruit setting) and its resulting low yields. However, it was transported from there to South America before phylloxera, although it wasn�t until 1994 that a lot of the vines thought to be Merlot in Chile were identified as Carmenere. It is characterised by dark-fruit, cherry and herbal notes, sometimes even a gamey edge, and has the potential to make fine wine. Apart from Chile, Carmenere also turns up in northern Italy, again up until fairly recently under the mistaken identity of Cabernet Franc, as well as California. But, watch this space, it may even be heading for a revival in Bordeaux, where its synonym is Grande Vidure.

Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir (pronounced PEA-no NWAHR, the grape that produces Burgundy's finest red wines, is one of the hardest to grow. This thin-skinned variety is generally an early budder and ripener, so it is best-suited to cool, marginal climates - 40 to 50 degrees latitude - and only produces good wine when the fruit is controlled to very low yields. It has the problem that it mutates easily and is also particularly susceptible to leaf roll, and to rot because of its compact grape bunches. Pinot has no single recognisable flavour or style. Young Burgundy, however, can be reminiscent of raspberries or strawberries, while mature French Pinot tends to evolve into anything from violets, game and truffle to farmyard aromas and compost. Despite its difficult temperament, Pinot Noir is hardly just a French phenomenon. It crops up in Northern Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Eastern Europe as well as California, Australia, New Zealand and even South Africa and Chile. It�s a successful ingredient for sparkling wine and is one of three grapes used in champagne, bringing good acidity, structure and body. Pinot Noir goes by a long list of names, which include Spatburgunder and Blauburgunder in Germany and Klevner in Switzerland.

Sauvignon Blanc

Grassy and herbaceous, with the characteristics of gooseberries, nettles and cat�s pee � this can only be referring to one grape variety: Sauvignon Blanc. The grape has its origins in Bordeaux but is now widely cultivated over France and around much of the world. Think of Pouilly-Fume and Sancerre from the Loire � both these wines are made from Sauvignon Blanc and are, probably, the grape in its purest form: crisp, dry, aromatic and unoaked. In Bordeaux, it�s blended, particularly with Semillon, for the dry whites there, but it�s also an ingredient for the region�s luscious dessert wines, such as those of Sauternes and Barsac. On the other side of the world, however, New Zealand has also virtually made this white variety its own, giving the wine a screwcap along the way. Yet this fashionable grape does have its faults. For one, unblended, it doesn�t age. Wines made from Sauvignon Blanc are generally meant to be drunk young, but then that can also be a bonus � as soon as you�ve bought a bottle, you can just chill this zesty little number and enjoy it! On the growing front, it�s susceptible to botrytis, oidium and black rot and will also rot if grown on fertile soils, preferring gravelly or sandy loams, or chalk in parts of the Loire. It also tends to be very vigorous and if it�s allowed to become over-productive on heavy soils, then the characteristics of the wines will be much diluted. Sauvignon Blanc goes by a few other names, the most common probably being Fume Blanc, as it�s known in California.

Syrah

Shiraz and Syrah are the same grape. However apart from Australia where it is always called Shiraz, and France where it is Syrah, the rest of the world tends to follow the style of these two. If the wine is ripe and full bodied the wine is often called Shiraz. If the wine has less fruit, more acidity and lower alcohol, it tends to be called Syrah after the wines produced into the North of Rhone. Shiraz/Syrah is produced by itself or can be blended typically in three ways. A small amount of the white grape Viognier can lift the deep flavours of Syrah, this is common in Northern Rhone. In Southern Rhone and recently Australia, blending has been based around adding Grenache and Mourvedre, copying the blending behind Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Even more recently Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz/Syrah has been blended in the Southern French wine region of Languedoc, creating big wines with elegance. Hotter climate Shiraz often has aromas of plum, tar and leather and with the right oak treatment even chocolate. Cooler climate Syrah can have a peppery note to the wine.