Hurtado: Peru is the next big wine country

Adolfo Hurtado, chief winemaker of Cono Sur, has revealed he thinks Peru has the potential to be the world’s next big wine region and is looking for vineyard land in the country. “Peru has the same high altitude and ocean influence as Chile, I’d love to make wine there,” he told the drinks business. “Peru has no frost and in many parts is desert-like and dry, the same as northern Chile. It’s such an interesting country with great winemaking potential,” he added. 

Hurtado revealed that he has made a number of trips to the country in search of vineyard land, but has yet to buy anything. If he were to make wine there, he says he would stick to the country’s native grapes over international varieties. Martin Morales, the half-Peruvian, half-British founder of newly-opened Peruvian restaurant Ceviche in Soho, is equally fired up about Peruvian wine and keen to add a couple to his list.

“I’ve got my eye on a Peruvian white blend, which I’m desperately trying to get into the UK to show Londoners what Peru can do in terms of winemaking. The reds need work, but some of the whites are delicious, I’m really excited about them,” he said. There are five different vineyard regions in Peru: the North Coast, the Central Coast, the South Coast, the Andean Sierra and the Selva.

Of the 11,000 hectares of vineyards in the country, the most important lie in the Central and South Coast where the best known wines, like Tacama, Vista Alegre and Ocucaje are produced. The coastal region of Peru is desert, intersected by a series of valleys flowing from the Andes down to the sea. The best vines are grown in these fertile areas, which benefit from the cool currents of offshore air that rise up into the vineyards. The balance between the humidity and daily contrasts in temperature provide exceptional vine growing conditions.

Hurtado meanwhile, also aims to make his winery, Cono Sur, the second biggest wine brand in Chile after Casillero de Diabolo in terms of global recognition. The brand is relaunching its Bicycle, Reserva and Visión ranges with new packaging, as Hurtado felt the message behind the wines “wasn’t clear enough.” The company is also adding a Malbec and Pinot Grigio to its Bicycle range. “I’m really excited about the Malbec – it’s a deep purple colour, almost black, and is concentrated and full of sweet black fruit like an Argentinian Malbec,” he said.

Lafite winery in China underway

Domaines Barons de Rothschild has begun construction of a winery in Penglai in China’s Shandong province in order to capitalise on the thirst for fine wine in Asia. As reported on thedrinksbusiness.com, in partnership with CITIC East China Group, the new winery, in the only coastal wine producing area in Asia, is expected to produce 120,000 bottles of wine a year.

After fifteen years of research on grape planting in Asia, Lafite selected the port town of Penglai as the optimum site for its Chinese property. The company has invested £10m in the 1.73 hectare winery, and the accompanying 25 hectare estate. A completion date for the project has yet to be given. Lafite will plant different kinds of grapes in accordance with soil constituents, without the use of chemical fertilisers.

“The world’s top luxury brands are all very interested in the Chinese market, Rothschild is no exception,” said Zhang Lu, a Shanghai-based analyst at Capital Securities Corp. Outside France, Lafite also owns Bodegas Caro in Argentina and Viña Los Vascos in Chile. Penglai has a quality grape growing area of more than 10,000 hectares.

Wine production in the region has doubled to 140,000 tons in 2011 from 2005, while the number of winemakers increased to 70 from 39 in the same period. Chinese wine imports meanwhile, were worth over US$1.27bn last year, after an annual increase of 88%. According to the latest figures from Vinexpo, Asia is on course to become the world’s second biggest market for wine within the next three years.

Chinese consumers will increase the amount of wine they drink by 54% by 2015 as consumption reaches 1.9 to 2 liters per person, the Vinexpo study found. The value of wine purchases may outpace volume in the next four years, helped by high-end consumption in China, which is now the fifth largest wine market by volume.

Garage Wine Company

Wine and the City talks to Quentin Tarantino look-alike Derek Mossman Knapp of the Garage Wine Company at Quo Vadis in Soho, about his old vine Carignan project, the potential for sparkling wine in Chile, and why the future of Chilean wine lies in the mountain regions.

Cabernet a "cornerstone for Chile's future"

Australian winemaker and consultant Brian Croser has spoken out in praise of Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon, calling it “a cornerstone for the future of Chilean wine.” As reported on thedrinksbusiness.com, speaking at the inaugural South American Wine Workshop in London, organised by Santa Rita Estates, Croser said Chilean Cabernet was even more distinctive than Napa Cabernet.

“Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon is completely unique and can’t be replicated. Its unmistakable Cabernet nature is a real advantage for Chile, and a strength to build upon,” Croser said. “The best examples are subliminal, with grainy tannins that impart a savoury note on the finish,” he added, warning that the big challenge for Chilean vintners is to learn how to tame their tannins. “They’re a long way off at the moment,” he admitted.

Croser believes the uniqueness of Chilean Cabernet comes from the extreme differences between day and night temperatures, which gives the grapes longer to build up pyroxene and phenols, allowing for the steady build up of tannin. “Chile has recognised the challenge of the Cabernet varieties and the unusually high diurnal range of the terroirs and continues to refine the vineyard management, creating some of the world's most unique and distinctive Cabernets with subliminal briarines and evolved savoury tannins,” he said.

He referred to the Cabernet family of grapes, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Carmenere as “Chile’s backbone”, calling Cabernet Franc the “mother grape” and imparter of the green gene. “Chile’s fine wine future lies in refining its traditional Cabernet offering from the Central Valley and at the same time exploring what the county’s other terroirs have to offer,” he said, citing Chile’s “matrix of terroir” as having great potential for other noble grape varieties, including Riesling, Syrah, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.

He also name-checked Temuco as a region to watch, predicting it will become an important place for sparkling wine production. “The future of Chilean sparkling wine lies in the south, towards the mountains, in drier areas like Temuco. I’m certain there’s a future for Chilean sparkling wine down there, all we need is a producer brave enough to start planting,” he said.

Meanwhile, Chilean wine expert Peter Richards MW spoke out in defence of Carmenere, calling it “a first division grape" that speaks of its origins. “We have to remember how new it is. Quality will increase in time and lots of different kinds of Carmenere will emerge, as it’s a naturally varied variety,” Richards said. Tim Atkin MW also defended the grape: “I’m coming round to it, especially in blends. The problem with Carmenere is its green character, which needs to be addressed. The trick is being able to manage the tannin,” he said.

World's first meteorite-aged wine launched

An Englishman working in Chile has launched what is believed to be the first wine aged with a meteorite formed during the birth of the solar system. As reported on thedrinksbusiness.com, Norwich-born Ian Hutcheon (pictured) has released a Cabernet Sauvignon called Meteorito aged with a 4.5 billion-year-old meteorite from the Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter. The extra-terrestrial wine was created at Hutcheon’s Tremonte Vineyard in the Cachapoal Valley in Chile.

“I’ve been involved in wines and astronomy for many, many years and I wanted to find some way of combining the two,” Hutcheon said. “When you drink this wine, you are drinking elements from the birth of the solar system,” he added. Belonging to an American collector, the three-inch meteorite is believed to have crashed into the Atacama Desert in northern Chile around 6,000 years ago.

“The idea behind submerging it in wine was to give people the chance to touch something from space; the very history of the solar system, and feel it via a grand wine,” Hutcheon said. In April 2010, Cabernet Sauvignon grapes were picked from his mountain vineyard, planted on an old gold mine 100km south-west of Chile’s capital Santiago.

The fruit was then fermented for 25 days, before undergoing malolactic fermentation for 12 months – it was during this process that the wine was held in a wooden barrel with the meteorite, before being blended with another batch of Cabernet Sauvignon. Hutcheon believes the meteorite gives the wine a “livelier taste”.

Meteorito Cabernet Sauvignon is currently only sold at the Centro Astronomico Tagua Tagua – an observatory launched by Hutcheon in 2007, but the winemaker is keen to export it to other countries, including the UK. Around 10,000 litres of the wine have been made.

Hip-hop help sees Moscato sales soar in US

Sales of Moscato are soaring in the US as hip-hop artists continue to name-check the low alcohol sweet wine in their songs. As reported on thedrinksbusiness.com, US Moscato sales grew more than 80% for the 52 weeks ending November 12, according to Nielsen, helping the wine to break out of its after-dinner niche. "The last thing I can remember that shot out of the cork like that was Pinot Noir after the film Sideways," said Danny Brager, vice president of Nielsen's beverage and alcohol division. “But the pop-culture inspired growth in Pinot Noir has been eclipsed by the rise of Moscato,” Brager added.

A year-on-year comparison shows sales of Moscato in America topping $300 million for 2011, more than triple what they were for 2009. With an average price of less than $10 per bottle, the varietal now accounts for 3% of total table wine sales in the US, up from 1% in 2009.

Moscato’s recent sales success among urban drinkers has been boosted by plugs in R&B and hip-hop songs by the likes of Kanye West, Ne-Yo, Lil’ Kim and Ab-Soul. West was one of the first to elevate Moscato's profile, serving Saracco Moscato d'Asti at a party in 2005 and mentioning the wine in a remix of the song Make Her Feel Good.

"Moscato is coming on strong, especially in the urban market," said New York-based wine consultant Lisa Carley. "The rise of Moscato and sweet red wines seems to indicate that Americans are getting more comfortable with wine in general. Because of that, they are drinking what they like as opposed to what they ‘should’ drink," Carley added.

The rising popularity of Moscato from entry-level brands like Sutter Home, Gallo and Yellowtail is leading to increased plantings of Muscat in California, Chile, Argentina, France and Spain. "Moscato is a good gateway wine for people that don't typically drink wine. It's sweet and it's not intimidating," said Megan Metcalf, editor of US trade publication Wine & Spirits Daily, adding, “People who would have drunk White Zinfandel are now drinking Moscato.”

Adolfo Hurtado, Cono Sur

Wine and the City chats to Cono Sur chief winemaker Adolfo Hurtado at the London International Wine Fair 2011 about his ambitious new Aconcagua Valley wine estate project in the foothills of the Andes mountains, how diversity is the way forward for Chile, and why he will go to his grave believing Chilean Pinot Noir trumps New Zealand.

Torres

Like Robert Mondavi was to California, so, to many, Miguel Torres is Spanish wine. The leading Spanish brand in the UK, Torres sells 4.2m bottles in Britain a year, with Viña Sol, Esmeralda and Sangre de Toro brightening supermarkets aisles across the country. Globally speaking, Torres is one of the most recognisable names in Spanish wine, and inextricably linked with the man behind the brand – fourth generation Miguel A. Torres.

Though respect for the environment has always formed part of the Torres modus operandi, it wasn’t until 2006, after watching Al Gore’s Oscar-winning documentary film An Inconvenient Truth, that Miguel Torres became startlingly aware of the very real threat of global warming on both the wine industry, and the planet. “It opened my eyes”, says Torres. “Global warming is one of the greatest social and environmental challenges facing humanity this century. Temperatures have already increased by one degree, which has brought the harvest forward by two-weeks. If they increase by five, Southern Europe will be full of arid steppes.”

Torres’ green commitment runs deep. He was honoured with a lifetime achievement award last month at the drinks business Green Awards for his pioneering work towards championing green issues in Spain, and his dedication to sustainable causes, while last year, at the inaugural Green Awards, Torres was named Green Company of the Year.

Torres, who turns 70 this year, has donated £9m of his own money to environmental issues. He drives a hybrid car and has bought 45 more for his staff. Before the climate conference in Copenhagen in December ’09, Torres welcomed 200 environmental experts into his home to prove that the wine industry is worried about the planet and the direction in which it’s headed. “Climate change is a reality. I’m astonished to see the speed at which it is taking place. Everyone should make a contribution to fight against this threat,” says Torres.

Bodegas Torres was founded in Vilafranca, Penedès, in 1870 by Miguel (I), his brother Jaime Torres Vendrell and their father. To symbolise the trio they created the three towers (torres) logo, which graces Torres bottles to this day. Over its 141-year history, the business has withstood everything from phylloxera to Civil War. Torres is expected to stand down as head this year, and speculation is rife as to whether of his son, Miguel Jr, or daughter Mireia will take the helm. “The board of directors is following the issue closely,” is all Torres will reveal.

Working in keeping with the philosophy of co-founder Miguel Torres Vendrell, that: “a good wine always respects nature, everything Bodegas Torres does is focused around minimising the impact of the winemaking process on the environment, with the overall aim of increasing vine and therefore wine quality. This June, Torres will host a Symposium for Environmental Exchange in Vilafranca, where Ricardo Lagos, the United Nations special envoy for climate change, is due to attend, along with green-focused wineries from around the world, such as Chivite, Codorníu, Yalumba, Fetzer and Concha y Toro.

Torres produces 44 million bottles a year, turning over £175m in annual sales and exporting to 140 countries. The company owns 2,440 hectares of vineyards across the world, in California’s Russian River Valley, Curicó in Chile, and Penedès, Priorat, Toro, Jumilla, Ribera del Duero and Rioja Alavesa in Spain. The recent impact of global warming has forced Torres to move his Spanish empire north, towards the Pyrenees, which will allow for cooler grape growing conditions.

In collaboration with the Catalan Institute of Vines and Wine, Torres operates research programmes aimed at recovering ancient Catalan grape varieties in danger of extinction. The region was once home to more than 100 indigenous grapes, but after the phylloxera epidemic of the mid-19th century, only a dozen have survived. In the past 15 years, Torres has, quite remarkably, rediscovered 58 varieties by asking farmers to inform him when they find a vine they don’t recognise. Torres’ great grape revival can be found in Grans Muralles, a DO Concha de Barberà wine made from the virtually extinct Garró and Samsó varieties, along with Monastrell, Cariñena and Garnacha.

The aims of the company’s latest project, Torres & Earth, include making use of biomass to produce biofuels, investing in solar panels, encouraging the use of wind power, and recycling water from waste management systems. But Torres’ green reach stretches all the way round the earth. The company has collaborated with the University of Barcelona to help protect the Bonelli’s eagle and the Ornithologists Union of Chile to safeguard the Andean condor.

“All of us can and must do something. Only by carrying out small acts of respect towards the environment as individuals, will we be able to raise ‘green’ consciousness on a lager scale,” says Torres, in an impassioned call to action we’d be churlish to ignore.