CHILE: You shall go to the ball…

Maule, Chile’s ‘Cinderella’ region is finally gaining the recognition it deserves, discovers Jane Parkinson.

Fantastical claims like it’s the “Cinderella” of Chilean regions aptly describes how Maule, one of Chile’s oldest wine-growing regions, is firmly back in favour on home turf.

Eclipsed in recent years by the seemingly relentless discovery of exciting “new” Chilean production regions, such as Sauvignon Blanc Mecca Leyda to the north and the climatically extreme Bio-Bio to the south, Maule, in the country’s Central Valley DO, is now turning Chilean heads as producers increasingly invest in the region that was erroneously deemed to be comparatively dull.

Nevertheless, for producers such as the excitable José Manuel Ortega, chairman of the O Fournier Group, Maule has always been valuable territory.

“Maule is one of the greatest high-quality wine areas in the world,” he says, “and definitely the best in Chile by far. I always define Maule as Bordeaux in an exceptional year. We always want to make wines with personality and character and we feel that Maule is the region [to do this]. We don’t follow fashion but potential and we’re still astonished at the quality we’re finding in this region. The visitors that have gone to Maule have been amazed by what they have seen and tasted. Maule is Chilean wine’s Cinderella.”

Similarly impressed is Toby Morrhall, Chilean buyer for UK mail-order specialist The Wine Society, which has won awards for its Chilean range. Morrhall suggests why his listing of Maule wines has increased in recent years: “You can make high yield or low yield vineyards there. Historically they [producers] went for the high yield option, but it is possible to make high-quality wines from low yields.”

Meanwhile, Michael Cox, UK director of Wines of Chile, explains how the generic body has been shoring up producers to get involved in Maule. “There seems to be more interest in Maule and we’ve encouraged producers to do more down there. In the past, Maule has been the powerhouse and workhorse of the Chilean wine trade, but now there’s a lot more confidence in the region’s potential.”

Torres too, has always believed in the region, and following three years of research with a geologist in Chile to find a site looking for slate soils that were similar to the Spanish region of Priorat, Maule is where Torres finally found success. Miguel Torres Junior explains: “We’ve worked in Maule since we arrived in Chile as we believed it was a special zone, especially the part which corresponds to the dry interior area.

"We are seeing consistent high-quality production from red vines in this area year after year. This is due to poor soil quality and the ability to irrigate when necessary.”

Search for the Next Big Thing

Combine the success in Maule from two respected producers such as O Fournier and Torres with the permanent desire to find the Next Big Thing when it comes to regional discovery, and the future for Maule looks particularly bright as more producers continue to commit to the area.

Torres adds: “We believe that other wineries are settling in the valley for the same reason we settled here years ago. We believe that the personality and terroir expressed in the wines is a key point of difference and quality that we have to promote.”

Chile’s largest producer, Concha y Toro, has a whole brand dedicated to the region of Maule – Palo Alto. Diego Solari, marketing assistant for Palo Alto has also witnessed rejuvenated interest in the area, as he says: “There’s great potential in the Maule Valley to produce premium wines.

"Vineyard land is at a premium in many of the established regions like Rapel and Maipo, so producers are starting to revisit the Maule and applying viticulture and varieties suitable for the region and getting good results.”

Ortega also believes there are significant opportunities still to be had in the region for anyone looking to purchase Maule vineyards. “I still believe there are opportunities to purchase vineyards at a great price. One can buy old País vineyards and graft them into fine varieties,” he says, “this will have tremendous benefits for everyone – wineries will get excellent fruit at very competitive prices and producers could increase their income by utilising their old Pais vineyards to produce quality grapes. It’s a win-win situation for all the parties.”

Flabbergasted by the apathetic view towards Maule displayed by some of the larger players in the industry, Ortega adds: “I’m not so sure that large wineries in Chile are understanding what can come out of Maule and I’m a bit surprised that these large wineries are not going there. Even if one looks at past trophy winners at Wines of Chile Awards,” as he refers to Maule receiving a trophy nearly every year (see box, above).

However, Viña San Pedro Tarapacá Wine Group, one of Chile’s largest producers, is indeed exploring the Maule, fruit from which is used in its top-end Viña San Pedro wine, Cabo de Hornos, while Maule also furnishes VSP with a Carménère for its 1865 range.

Speaking in defence of Chile’s largest winery, Concha y Toro, Palo Alto’s UK brand manager, Alex Taylor, comments: “Concha y Toro has been cultivating grapes in the Maule Valley for a number of years and with the work and investment that has been put behind the region, the team felt the quality was getting so good that a standalone brand should be developed.”

Old vines, new wines
From larger to smaller winery involvement, one of the universal secrets to Maule’s success seems to be the wealth of old vine material that’s available in the area, as Cox at Wines of Chile testifies: “What’s most exciting now is that people are discovering if you mother and care for old vineyard sites and reestablish a rapport with family growers there, you can get better fruit and better wines.

"It’s the reawakening of a sleeping resource,” adding that: “Carignan is being seen as the best potential variety which can distinguish Maule from other Chilean regions. And one thing that’s sprung up recently is the Carignan Club.” Although Cox soberly explains: “This has been created by people who make wine down there to raise funds to rehouse the workers and their families,” following the country’s earthquake in February.

For Brett Jackson, chief winemaker at Valdivieso, the region’s potential lies in several factors, one of which is its old vines. “I believe the potential for Maule is its diversity of high-quality wines, made by grafting onto old vineyards, as well as the exploration of the cooler climate areas and the increasing amount of quality plantings.

“There’s a large area of old-vine País, which can easily be grafted over to higher-quality varieties. This is a very interesting option because we can take advantage of a very robust rootstock (from País), with quality-orientated varieties grafted on top,” adding that, like Cox, he believes Carignan is one example that should benefit the most.

Jackson continues: “One of the best examples are the old-vine Carignan vineyards. There are a handful of wineries (including ourselves) that have been working with this variety over the last few years. These old vineyards are dry farmed, traditional bush vine trained, and are very low yielding. They are producing outstanding quality.”

Morrhall at The Wine Society also sees Carignan as being Maule’s secret weapon in consolidating a reputation for quality. “They have rediscovered some 50-year-old, unirrigated, bush Carignan vines [in Maule] and are blending this with some Syrah and Mourvèdre.

"The Carignan has a very low pH and for a number of winemakers is a secret weapon in blending with big reds from other regions, in order to lower the pH. The low pH makes the wine much more drinkable than the overripe, over-extracted, over-oaked, over-priced blockbusters,” he adds.

Regional focus
Within Maule, there are several good sub-regional options for producers. Ortega highlights his three favourites: “Loncomilla, San Clemente and Cauquenes. Each one has certain characteristics that make them very appealing for exceptional wines – complex soils, excellent weather conditions and old vines.” San Clemente and Cauquenes are the regions on Solari at Concha y Toro’s lips too.

“The Mariposas vineyard in the San Clemente region of Maule produces the best Cabernet Sauvignon, due to the spectacular drops in temperature at night – often by 25 degrees. Cabernets from this area are deeply coloured and intense in flavour, yet retain fresh fruit character. The coastal areas and the Andean foothills are the most interesting areas for premium wine production. We have recently acquired a new vineyard in the coastal region of Cauquenes,” he adds.

Joining in on the support for Cauquenes’ potential is Rafael Urrejola, winemaker for the TH project and range of premium wines at Undurraga. “Maule is now having a revival thanks to a couple of facts, or events, that have been taking place in the last few years. Among these are the new plantations in the Cauquenes area, about 30 kilometres from the coast.

"The aim of these plantations is to rediscover the soil-climate potential of this area of Maule, which is specially characterised by its vast granite slopes, and its considerable day-night temperature fluctuation during the summer.”

The end goal

But when it comes to the end goal, that of selling Maule wines, will they ever be chosen by consumers on the basis that they come from this particular region? Simon Farr, speaking on behalf of VIA Wines, says: “The UK retail scene is massively distorted as 70% of the off-trade is sold in supermarkets and any attraction seems to be generic or varietal. Macro economics means it’s very confusing for people, so when it comes to somewhere like Chile, Maule will benefit from the future scene of UK wine retailing as this is going to change.”

He goes on to explain: “We will see a new format of retailing come upon us and when that volume-driven era is behind us (it’s not yet), regions like Maule will benefit.”

Hopefully the drip-feed approach of activities such as Wines of Chile’s seminar at last year’s LIWF entitled the Magic of Maule will soon reap rewards. In fact, Ortega, who spoke on the panel at the seminar sees no sense in looking anywhere else in Chile: “If you ask me, it’s a disgrace that everyone is trying to find new valleys and planting new vines with the same clones, when Maule has been there for 400 years!”

So the will, investment and raw materials are all in place for Maule, even if it has suffered a setback in the wake of February’s earthquake. Urrejola at Undurraga poignantly suggests: “Maule will be on people’s lips in the near future. After decades of silence and with a heart-rending scenery of ruins after the recent earthquake, Maule will rise up from the ashes.

Jane Parkinson, May 2010