Chilean wine has a reputation for offering reliability at the HK$100-a-bottle level. It's easy drinking with ripe fruit and some oak on the reds. It may not be sensational, but it's not offensive, either.
In the past two years, we have seen another side of Chilean wine at vertical tastings of iconic brands such as Seña and Don Melchor. Exciting no doubt, but consumers should take note of the mid-range wines from the coastal areas.
Chile's wine industry is young and export-oriented. High-volume vineyards have tended to concentrate in the central valleys of Conchagua and Maipo, where a reliable climate produces wine with ripe fruit characters but not much identity. But in the past 10 years, adventurous producers have been discovering new regions throughout the country, with more interesting climates and soils, resulting in wines with distinctive characters.
The Andes in the east offer a cool climate. The sedimentary soil in the region is also more fertile than the mostly granitic clay found on the coast.
The central valley (Entre Cordilleras) has a warm to hot Mediterranean climate, great for ripening big red grapes such as cabernet sauvignon and carmenere. These three zones (which were given official names in October), combined with the original north-south Denomination of Origin regions, map out the diverse terroir.
Chile lies on the Ring of Fire, where most of the world's volcanoes are found. Its geology is complex, resulting in soil with a high mineral content. This may explain why its wines, no matter the alcohol level, always have a lean and fresh element. I particularly like the whites from the coastal regions. I recently tasted a range from vineyards in Limari in the north to Bio Bio in the south.