Itata, Chile

​Water, water everywhere….  That was going to be the title of my next to last SommCom review session on wine, water, and food pairing, but alas I could not think of anything worthwhile to write.  So, I happily decided to go straight to a very, very interesting presentation on wines from a unique region of Chile, Itata.

Itata has a lot in common with Southern California.  Itata was where the first Spanish mission in Chile was established, just as San Diego was where the first Spanish mission in California was established.  If you have a mission, you have a church.  If you have a Catholic church, you need wine for the Mass.  Hence, winemaking in Chile began in Itata, much as winemaking in California began in San Diego.  As in California, winemaking moved north, and Itata, like San Diego, was left far behind in wine production.  Both areas seem to be seeing a resurgence of sorts in their wine industry.
Itata is located in the south of Chile.  It is a thin strip of land between the Pacific Ocean and the mountains, about 20 km wide and 100 km from north to south.  Not unlike San Diego, the weather is dominated by the nearby mountains and cold ocean.  Unlike San Diego, however, Itata has enough rainfall for the vineyards to dry farm.  This is a relatively poor area, unlike San Diego, so vineyards have little in the way of modern equipment, and oak barrels are not commonly used.  Most vineyards consist of old, untrellised vines. It is doubtful that the vines ever see anything in the way of modern pesticides, fungicides, or the like.  The wealthier growers might be able to afford a tractor.  There is no effort to make complex, high-quality wines, even if such expertise were available.  Hence the product is quite simple, inexpensive, and, as it turns out, quite drinkable.

​We tasted four wines made from different grapes, three of which were quite nice.  The best white wine was made from a grape labeled Torrontes.  At some point in the history of Argentine wines Muscat of Alexandria was crossed with other grapes to produce three new varieties, all falling under the general name Torrontes:  Torrontes Riojano, Torrontes Sanjuanino, and Torrontes Mendocino.  I’m not sure if the Itata wine growers know which one they are growing.  See more on this wine below.

​The Pais grape was brought to Chile by the Spanish and used to make wine for the church.  It is related to California’s Mission grapes.  Makes for a very easy-to-drink wine.

The light red wine we tasted is made from the Cinsault grape.  ​Cinsault is a minor blending grape from Bordeaux.  It is rare to find Cinsault used to make a varietal, but they do and it goes down well.

​Thus ends my review of SommCom.  Stay tuned for more adventures….