Casa Silva pushes Chilean frontier

Casa Silva plans to release a wine next year which will extend Chile’s southerly limits for commercial vineyards.

Located in Futrono on the shores of Lake Ranco, 350 kilometres south of Bío Bío, the six hectare vineyard in the foothills of the Andes was planted four years ago with Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

The high rainfall and cool temperature typical of the southern end of Chile mean that harvests will be far less consistent than in Casa Silva’s Colchagua Valley base.

However, the producer reports that experimental wines made so far are showing good levels of acidity, plenty of fruit and naturally low alcohol, which promise “a huge potential for cool climate wine styles or high quality sparkling wines.”

Explaining the decision to plant vines down in Ranco, Mario Pablo Silva, managing director of Casa Silva, said: “We are always looking to broaden our horizons and lead the way for Chilean winemakers, and this represented the ideal opportunity. With the family having owned an estate down here for years, we always wondered about the possibility of planting vines.”

Moreover, Silva expressed a hope that this “groundbreaking” vineyard, which lies south east of the city of Valdivia, would help broaden people’s perspectives of the variety of styles Chile is capable of producing.

“Planting in a different climate should produce new and interesting wines, further extending Chile’s reputation as one of the finest and most diverse wine producing nations,” he speculated.

For a comprehensive report on the latest developments in Chile, see our report in September’s issue of the drinks business.