A new style of wine is making inroads in the market that was probably never meant to attract attention. These are rustic, peasant wines; village wines, made for immediate consumption by farmers who tended vines passed down for generations. And as the generations passed, the vines got older, the fruit more interesting, until a new wave of Chilean winemakers and enologists discovered them.
They’ve managed to create buzz for these little wines, championing not their grandeur but their simplicity, honesty and authenticity.
Most of these vineyards are old and remote, found in places like the Itata Valley — cool, high elevation sites far from pest pressures. These vines can reach 200, 250, even 300 years of age. Not surprisingly, they represent an unparalleled clonal heritage, planted to historic varieties, like Carignane, Cinsault, Muscat of Alexandria, and perhaps most interesting, Pais, a variety once ubiquitous in 18th century California, known then by its adopted moniker, Mission.