Herencia is a ‘game changer’

Santa Carolina’s chief winemaker, Andrés Caballero has hailed its old vine Carmenere, Herencia as a game-changer for the winery and a “new approach to elegance”.

Andres Caballero of Santa Carolina

“There has been a big revolution in wine knowledge in Chile over the last 10 years,” enthused Andrés Caballero on a fleeting 24 hour visit to Hong Kong.

“We had one formula for winemaking in the 1990s which was handed down through generations, but now winemakers have had the chance to explore and experience different markets and regions and everything has completely changed.”

Herencia, meaning ‘heritage’ in Spanish, is Santa Carolina’s first icon wine made predominantly of old vine Carmenere hailing from two of Chile’s classic Carmenere producing valleys, Puemo and Los Lingues.

Only released in good years, 2011 is the new vintage which Caballero heralds as a game changer for Santa Carolina which has winemaking traditions stretching back 140 years.

2007 was the first vintage he created after joining the winery in 2005 and was limited to 5,600 bottles with subsequent vintages of 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010.

Santa Carolina will not release in 2013 and 2016’s damp and chilly conditions were “just horrible” according to Caballero.

Caballero ostensibly created Herencia for the export market in an attempt to change Santa Carolina’s image – and Chilean wine in general. “We needed to do something new,” he said. “We were producing very powerful Carmenere which was how Chile was known to the outside world and I wanted to bring out the elegant, refined side of Carmenere which best expresses the old vines.”

Herencia carries a label based on the winery’s flowery designs from the 1950s and with its deliberately heavy glass bottle, is proving extremely popular with the Asia market.

“China and Japan are our biggest markets,” said Caballero. “And Hong Kong is definitely getting there. There is huge potential for our premium ranges here, especially when we emphasise the history and how old vine Carmenere is actually very unique.”

Reducing the alcohol content is the next step for Caballero who hopes for Herencia to be similar in style to its Bordeaux counterparts – 2011 stands at a still fairly punchy 14%.

“2009 was 15.8% and 2010 was 14.8%,” he said. “We will still retain the balance and the acidity as we go on but my ideal is 13%. That will be my unicorn wine.”