Casa Marin to release Chile’s ‘first’ sparkling Riesling

A Chilean winery based just 8km from the Pacific ocean has revealed plans to produce Chile’s “first Riesling sekt”, a sparkling wine, using the traditional method.

Felipe Marin, winemaker and viticulturist at Casa Marin in Lo Abarca in the San Antonio Valley

Speaking to the drinks business during a visit to the winery this month, Felipe Marin, winemaker at Casa Marin in the San Antonio Valley’s Lo Abaraca region, revealed that a sparkling Riesling was in the pipeline.

“We will be the first in Chile to have a sekt”, said Marin, confirming that the sparkler was going to be made using the traditional method and that production would be limited to just 1,000 litres.

Casa Marin was founded in 2000 by Felipe’s mother, winemaker María Luz Marín, who, against advice from the wider Chilean wine industry, decided to establish her winery in Lo Abarca, a small town in the San Antonio Valley, west of Santiago and 8km from the Pacific ocean .

Recalling their efforts to establish the winery Felipe said it was “very hard to grow grapes here in the beginning”, being one of the closest vineyards in Chile to the Pacific ocean.

“Nobody believed in this project at the beginning. My mother was looking for somebody to invest in it but because it was so radical nobody wanted to”, said Felipe. “In the end she decided to go buy her own project. Now, everybody is looking back and she is really well respected in the Chilean industry.”

Due to its cool climate and susceptibility to frost, Casa Marin’s growing season can be unpredictable. Varieties currently grown at the estate include Sauvignon Blanc, Sauvignon Gris, Riesling, Gewurtztraminer, Pinot Noir, Syrah and Grenache.

“It was very hard in the beginning”, recalls Felipe. “We had problems with botrytis and frost. It was not easy as we didn’t have any neighbours to share advice with so that made it harder.”

Interestingly Casa Marin’s vineyard was originally a eucalyptus field, which imparted aromas of eucalyptus in its wines for the first two vintages.

“At that time in Chile it was something different, not only this aroma, but the fact that this was so close to the Pacific”, said Felipe. “The wines became very different to what Chile was offering at that time.”

Casa Marin’s Riesling Sekt is not expected to be released until 2017, but will join the winery’s growing portfolio of white aromatic varieties and Syrah – a grape that is on the cusp of its ability to ripen in the cooler coastal region of Lo Abarca.

“The hardest varieties besides the Pinot Noir was the Syrah”, said Felipe. “We are really in an area that is too cold for Syrah – we are on the edge. Some years we haven’t been able to make Syrah because it was too green.”

Felipe shows us Casa Marin’s unique soil composition, featuring marine deposits which he says contribute to a greater level of salinity in its wines

Casa Marin’s biggest enemy is frost, which Felipe explains can last up to two weeks making it difficult to combat.

“It’s not only one or two days but up to 12”, said Felipe. “We once had 14 days of frost. We had just invested in new water controlling system but after two days in a row you run out of water.”

The estate’s Gewürztraminer has also suffered from frost due to its positioning in lower lying flat fields.

“In 2015 we didn’t even have a bother because there wasn’t any fruit”, said Felipe. “After two years in a row of frost the next vintage is not going to be that good because it has to recover. We didn’t want to pull it up because what we make we sell and it’s very important to us to keep it.”

However while the frost presents a great challenge the rewards are higher believes Felipe, particularly in relation to Syrah.

“Even though you have frost and everything if the wines come good the quality is very, very good. In the years that we didn’t have frost we saw big potential with the Syrah.”

Casa Marin released its first Syrah from the 2003 vintage, which was in the beginning “too active” and not ready having spent one year in barrel, said Felipe. Now its Syrahs spend at least two years in the barrel and have an alcohol level of between 12 to 12.5% abv.

“One of the things we changed was to leave it longer in barrel”, explained Felipe. “After 15 to 16 months the wine was just starting to soften up and was more complex. But it is very expensive to have a wine here in barrel for two years, and then you have another year in bottle – it’s a big investment.”

A selection of Casa Marin wines

Marine deposits within Casa Marin’s vineyards also contribute to the unique character of its wines, imparting a greater level of salinity.

Through its Lo Abarca label, Casa Marin hopes to build a brand “not just around Casa Marin but around the whole Lo Abarca area for whites and Pinot”.

Commenting on their wines’ necessarily premium price tag, (which generally retail above the £15 mark), Felipe said its challenging location makes it difficult to produce more entry-level wines at lower prices.

“This is a very radical climate and it’s very unusual”, explained Felipe. “To live with this lower vineyards we must have these prices. Otherwise our wines do not make any money. In this way we don’t compete with the big guys. They control all the industry and they have really low prices, so the only way to compete is to have different varieties or higher prices and of course the quality.”

Denmark and the Netherlands are Casa Marin’s biggest markets, where premium white wines are popular, with England still “very competitive”, said Felipe.

“In England it is hard to come from Chile with a Riesling or Sauvignon Blanc at a higher price point. It’s not easy, but awards and scores are a good way of setting us apart.”

Commenting on Chile as a whole, Felipe believes the industry is undergoing a lot of change, with winemakers increasingly taking bigger risks and experimenting with different varieties, which he believes is helping the industry move forward.

“Now people are planting the right varieties in the right places. There’s real interest in the south and in the high Maipo Alto. I have been surprised by the quality of the wines lately and I think that there is even more room to grow.

“Now you will find winemakers going back, not using much oak, using amphorae, bringing back varieties that we had here in the past and making good wines. I think that’s interesting and it is helping the industry.”