It’s kind of a long one…
The 1st event of the day was with the export manager for Emiliana Winery, Chile’s largest organic wine producer. They are certified organic, biodynamic, and are carbon neutral, in both production and shipping. He was very knowledgeable on natural wine production, having come from a grape growing family, and very intelligent on how to market organic wines. Interestingly, he says that it’s only after a wine buyer has tasted the wine, as an afterthought, he mentions that it’s organic. He said if he leads with the organic, it kind of puts people off and makes them sceptical of the quality; the wine can speak for itself, then have the bonus of being organic/biodynamic. Chile is great for this kind of farming because during the late summer and fall there is invariably little to no rain, making the threat of fungus and need for pesticides significantly reduced. Warm days and cool nights occur like clockwork, with the Andes to the east insulating warm day temperatures and the Pacific to the west chilling the temps in the evening. This makes organic farming easier. We are visiting Emiliana Winery next week, so I’ll go into greater detail then on their actual methods.
The 2nd speaker of the day was the president of the Movement of Independent Vintners (MOVI), a group of small wineries who use their collective strength to market their wines. The only requirement to be a member of MOVI is that the owner is involved in all parts of the winery. They give a voice to the little guy who would otherwise be drowned out. The Chilean wine industry is dominated by large industrial producers. It has far and away the largest average winery size of any country in the world — around 300,000 cases. By comparison, River Road, considered a medium sized winery, does around 45,000 cases. This is due to the way the industry developed here. Rather than immigrants from European wine countries (Italy, France, Germany, etc) bringing their passion and cultural traditions of wine with them, as happened in the US and Argentina for example, wine in Chile was imported by rich business men, mine owners (Chile’s economy is completely dependent on mining), who wanted a winery as a status symbol. They didn’t have the passion or connection to the product. It was just a business to make more money and stroke their ego.
After a tasty lomito from the local food court we went to visit Cousino-Macul Winery, the oldest winery in Chile, founded by Luis Cousino in the mid 19th century. His wealth came from his copper mines in northern Chile, and his coal mines in the south, along with his shipping and transportation business infrastructure to move his products. At one point the Cousino family had more money than the government of Chile. The winery was originally located on the outskirts of Santiago, but the city has expanded in the 150 or so years since its founding, so now it is located within Santiago. Veronica Cousino, a 7th generation daughter, gave us a presentation on the history of the her family. Dressed plainly and fighting a cold, you would never know that she was a billionaire. It is a testament to what Claudia told me: that money is not important to Chileans and they don’t feel the need to flash it. Do you think any of the socialite narcissists on The Hills, with a tiny fraction of Veronica’s wealth, would have so humbly showed up, sick, to give a presentation to some foreign students? After the power point, a tour guide named Martin gave us a tour of the winery, which is mostly for show now. Santiago is too polluted, so most of the production has been moved 30 miles to the south. The winery had massive 15,000 gallon casks made from local Rauli wood, and a 120 year old underground cellar, made of argamassa, brick mortared with sand and egg whites. We tasted a light salmon colored rose made from Cabernet Sauvignon, which had only 20 minutes of skin contact time, giving it such a light color, and fruity taste.
Patricio Patia spoke to us in the evening. He is Chile’s Robert Parker. He’s a journalist who writes a wine column for Santiago’s biggest paper, as well as various guides and books about wine. At an international level, he is an associated editor for Wine & Spirits Magazine in New York. He echoed much of what MOVI’s president had said about the problems with Chile’s national mentality toward wine, stemming from its development by rich miners. He felt that Chilean wine is too export focused. It is market oriented, always asking what people want and trying to meet that need. He attributes this to a cultural desire in Chile to always please people. Chileans want everyone to like them, a trait which I appreciate very much as a foreigner here, it makes travelling easier. Patricio wants Chileans to ask themselves, “What do we want?” “What would grow well here?” They don’t see wine as a product with a sense of place, they see it as a thing to please people. The wine industry here suffers from the contradiction of having great possibilities for world class wines due to its unique geography and terroir, but has a poor mentality toward wine.
Tomorrow is our day off, so everyone, especially all those crazy undergrads, were looking to go big. We hit happy hour at the roof top bar at the W Hotel, because a couple people had won a gift certificate in the Santiago City sSavenger Hunt on the 1st day (since I got in late on day 1, I didn’t participate, cause if I did you better believe I’d have won). After, we were going go to someplace Chris and Richard had gone the night before, for some food and drinks. On the way, we were approached by a large guy, a young ex-pat American from Bakersfield named James who owns a nearby bar called California. He said, “Yeah I saw the blond mullet,” pointing to me. I had a hat on so he couldn’t see the top was long too. “So I thought you guys might be American, then I heard English.” The 1st round at California was on him, and they had all the comfort food we craved, I got a Hawaiian burger. There’s a night club next door to James’ place, and he got us in without having to pay cover. It was an ok spot, kinda small. We got some champagne bottle service, but decided not to stay long. A couple guys were set on going to a party street called Sucia, but James advised against it, as the area is rampant with prostitution and tourist getting robbed. After some testimony from passers-by that Sucia was “malo” and “peligrosos,” we decided not to venture that way. So we cruised down the block to club Subterranean, a packed, huge underground dance club. On the way in, we ran into Martin, our tour guide from earlier that day, what are the chances in a city with 6 million people?! We bailandoed to such hits as Bob Marley’s Could You Be Loved, Play That Funky Music White Boy, House of Pain’s Jump Around, and Will Smith’s Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It. There’s nothing like dancing with a decent fade on, when you’re not trying to impress anyone, and don’t give a rat’s ass. In an ironic twist, that self confident, care free, dancing prowess is what impresses and attracts the Penenlope Cruz looking locals. James even told me early on, “Man, you’re blond, chicks love that exotic shit here.” But, I just brush ‘em aside, I’ve got a Serbian Princess at home, and I’m just out to bust a move. Dancing like a mad man is a great way to burn off the alcohol, so you’ll feel better the next day. Our crowd had thinned out, so around 4:30 am, we headed back to the hotel, to go to bed, with my ears still ringing.
