Apalta is a single vineyard, so there is an expression from the site. Penfolds Grange is not a single vineyard wine, but the majority of it comes from the Barossa. It is a more regional expression of Shiraz. The effect of very old vines is that they are self-regulating and give lowyielding concentrations; there is that extra root barrier exploring a greater soil depth. That to me is the exciting thing about Chile. If we’ re getting these wines from these relatively young vineyards, then it speaks very well for the future.
MM: That answers part of my next question: why Syrah / Shiraz in Chile? Obviously, you are one of the most sought-after red wine-makers in the world, and you’ ve got quite a background with Syrah. Do you see definite potential for Syrah to be one of Chile’ s flagship wines?
John Duval and Felipe Tosso in the Apalta Valley Vineyards
old now, and when I visited there in 2006, the first vintages of Pangea were getting off the ground. Their focus, their dedicated work in their vineyards, and their quest for more knowledge really impressed me.
JD: What they’ ve achieved in a relatively short time is pretty impressive, actually. When I came in, I decided that I wasn’ t going to take a recipe from the Barossa Valley to Chile to make a Barossa wine over there. We’ re trying to make wines that respect the terroir and show what can be produced from some amazing vineyards. But with 29 years of experience making Shiraz in Australia, we made a lot of fantastic strides in the Ventisquero vineyards— in Apalta in particular— with Syrah. It is a unique site. Apalta [ a sub-region of the Colchagua Valley ] is one of the more beautiful vineyard areas I’ ve been to anywhere, with the slope, the different soil types and the lovely, weathered granitic soils to play with. The Ventisquero viticulture and vineyard management team have put a lot of work into trying to understand the soils and a lot of work into getting a lovely expression from the Syrah. It’ s very exciting.
JD: I do. Syrah shows more variation in its expression, depending on the terroir, than even Cabernet does. If you look at Cabernet around the world, it has got that Cabernet thumbprint and Cabernet character in various expressions. But Syrah can be quite different in the core sites, and that seems to be what’ s happening in Chile at the moment. We are experimenting growing Syrah in different terroirs, especially the spicier core-style Syrah.
MM: There are a lot of new plantings of Mourvèdre and Carignan, and new varietals coming to light in Chile. I know wine nerds really love the Rhône blends, and they do fine in our market. Is there going to be a move to a new style of Chilean wine, or do you think they’ ll still concentrate on the Carménère?
MM: Penfolds Grange is not sourced from a single vineyard; it’ s sourced using the best fruit that Australia has to offer. Having had the opportunity to experience that quality of fruit, how would you compare Apalta fruit? Obviously, you can’ t compare them side-by-side, but what are the qualities that drew you to the fruit in Apalta Valley?
JD: It’ s not really fair to compare them; they are different expressions. There’ s a significant difference in vine age too. In Chile, we’ re dealing with relatively young Syrah vines. I’ ve got a project in Washington State as well [ with Long Shadows Wineries ], and there are some similarities between Chile and Washington State. Syrah was only introduced in Chile in the modern time. There could have been some planted years ago, but in the modern winemaking era, the Syrah in Chile is probably only 20 years old. It’ s a similar story in Washington— we’ re dealing with fairly young vineyards.
Felipe Tosso and John Duval at Viña Ventisquero
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