The Chilean Wine Industry today
Chile has been highlighted as a global producer of excellent wines and spirits. Aromas, colors, flavors and centuries of experience are some of the characteristics that make Chilean wine one of the most sought after in the world. Chile's valleys have the ideal combination of soil, sunshine, temperature and humidity to grow grapes and produce world-class wine. They are also among the most organic. Because of the dry summers, Chilean vineyards and their natural geographic barriers are protected and free of pests and diseases that can attack the vines. Chile is today the fifth largest wine exporter in the world.
Traditionally Chile has been known and recognized for the quality of its reds, however, thanks to the work and perseverance of Pablo Morandé, among others, today we can say that our whites also enjoy a well-deserved prestige worldwide.
Pablo Morandé Lavín is an Agricultural Engineer from the University of Chile and comes from a family with a 5-generation winemaking tradition. Pablo has been a key character in the recent history of Chilean wine, he is the creator of the most successful wine, Don Melchor de Concha y Toro, discoverer of the two best valleys for white wines, Casablanca and Leyda. He traveled through Chile until he came across the Casablanca valley and there he found a field with an auspicious name: "La Vinilla". There had been a small vineyard, with torontel, muscatel and country grapes to make mass wine. He began to study the sprouting dates of the grasses and realized that they appeared 20 to 30 days late in relation to Santiago. In other words, the grapes would ripen more slowly and preserve their aromas, which is what is sought after in white wines.