Chilean wine industry ‘too brand driven’

Chile’s wine industry is too brand driven according to one of the country’s leading boutique winemakers.

Speaking to the drinks business during a trip to London this week, Derek Mossman-Knapp of the Maule-based Garage Wine Co, said:

“I think Chile was wrong in aping the Old World châteaux model and leading with big brands, it would have been wiser to build the structure of the industry around origin rather than brands.

“This brand focus means it is now hard for producers to charge what the wines are worth as they are associated with supermarkets and entry-level prices.”

The Garage Wine Co specialises in old vine Carignan

Mossman-Knapp also voiced a frustration with wine writers continually talking about Chile’s “diversity” and “potential”.

“Chile is viewed as the land of never-ending potential, but there are places that are established that we need to talk about. How long has the boom been going on for?

“To keep talking about diversity all the time sounds like indecision. We’ve established ourselves as a winemaking country now,” he told db.

The Canadian-born producer believes the way forward for Chile is a terroir-driven approach and increased regulation.

“There’s a lot of space for the Chilean wine industry to grow – new winemakers are coming up all the time with interesting ideas.

“In order to progress, we need real DOCs and more regulation so that we can sell our wines for over £20 a bottle.

“We need to pay our growers properly so they produce good quality grapes rather than building brand pyramids,” he said.

“US$20-40 is the sweet spot where Chilean wine should be rocking the house but a lot of the ‘icon’ wines in Chile go way past that price point,” he added.

Mossman-Knapp makes four different Carignans for different markets.

“The slightly funkier one goes to the UK – Brits would find the one we ship to the US too square,” he said, adding, “Chilean Carignan is trending with hipsters at the moment – they aren’t interested in Carmenere”.

The Garage Wine Co began as a hobby in 2005 as a collaboration between Mossman-Knapp, his wife Pilar Miranda and their friend, Dr. Alvaro Peña.

The winery specailises in dry farmed old vine Carignan from Maule, but also makes small amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon from Maipo Alto and Cabernet Franc.