Chilean wine explained. A long, narrow country of rich diversity.

History and geography

Spanish conquistadors brought vines to Chile in the 16th century. In the 1800s, European immigrants and vines followed, with Bordeaux as a major influence. After a turbulent mid-20th century, new technology and international ideas arrived, and a planting boom in the 1990s and 2000s has given way to fine tuning grapes, terroirs and winemaking.

Chile stretches about 4,200 km along the southwest coast of South America, between the Pacific and the Andes, with the Atacama Desert to the north and Patagonia to the south. These natural barriers may help explain why Chile is one of the few large vineyard areas still free of phylloxera, so many vines grow on their own roots. Climate varies hugely, not only from north to south but also between the coast, the Central Valley and the Andes foothills.

The south and the legacy grapes

In the south, in Maule, Bío Bío and Itata, you find the earliest grapes brought to Chile. País, known in Spain and the Canary Islands as Listán Prieto, is widely planted here, sometimes on vines around 200 years old. A new wave of producers is making light, bright, spicy and refreshing wines from it. Moscatel is often planted alongside, made in styles from sweet to dry and even skin-contact amphora wines; in the north it is distilled into Pisco.

The far south is also where Chile is developing sparkling wines and cool-climate grapes such as Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, partly as a hedge against the drought that has hit the center and north.

Maipo Cabernet and the Carménère mystery

The Maipo Valley, near Santiago, is the traditional heart of Chilean wine. In the mid-19th century wealthy Chileans brought French vines home, founding estates such as Cousiño Macul, Concha y Toro and Santa Rita. Cabernet Sauvignon is now Chile's most planted grape, about one vine in three, thriving on gravelly soils in Maipo, Cachapoal, Colchagua and Aconcagua, where sunny days and cool Andean air at night give ripe, balanced fruit.

Carménère is Chile's own story. One of Bordeaux's original red varieties, it was largely abandoned in France after phylloxera, but thrived in Chile mixed into vineyards sold as Merlot. In 1994 the French ampelographer Jean-Michel Boursiquot recognized it in a Maipo vineyard, and DNA tests confirmed it. Late ripening Carménère gives deep colored wines with Merlot's plump fruit and a gentle herbal, cedary note. Look to Maipo, Cachapoal and Colchagua.

The experiment: cork, screw cap or glass?

Peter and Fredrik compare bottle closures, with the help of a dartboard. Natural cork is a renewable product harvested from the bark of the cork oak, elastic and traditional, but a small percentage of bottles suffer cork taint, which makes wine smell musty or strips its flavor. Screw caps are inexpensive, easy to open and free of taint, and some now allow a little oxygen in. Glass stoppers are inert but costly.

The episode weighs up which closure suits wines meant for long aging, without pretending any option is perfect.

Food pairings and blind tastings

From the cool coastal San Antonio region, where Pacific fog extends the growing season, the hosts taste Matetic's EQ Sauvignon Blanc with a seared tuna tiradito and mango and passion fruit salsa. Later a côte de boeuf with a barbecue glaze spiced with merkén, the smoked chili seasoning of the Mapuche people, accompanies a structured red.

Two blind tastings ask the hosts to separate Chile's signature reds by color, fruit and tannin texture. See how they read the clues, an approach that helps you prepare for WSET Level 3.