SPANISH
10 Ago ITATA VALLEY, THE SOUTHERN CRADLE OF CHILEAN WINE
Located in the Biobío region, the Itata Valley extends for about 100 kilometers, between the cities of San Carlos and Bulnes, in the province of Ñuble. It is one of the oldest wine-growing areas in Chile, with a tradition around the world of wine of more than 400 years, and it is a place where you can still see small plots with head vineyards scattered among forests, hills, and pine trees.
Until recently, most of the wine produced in the area was intended for simple wines for local consumption, however, in recent years, the old vineyards of varieties such as Cinsault, País and Moscatel have drawn strong attention from various vintners and their fruit, has begun to be used in more renowned wines.
However, the fame of this valley begins many years later, with the arrival of the Spanish. And it is that shortly after the first vines were introduced, the wine produced in Itata begins to gain great recognition throughout the country. It was the pipeño wine or, as it was known at the time, the “wine from Chile”.
Around 1870, the Itata Valley covered almost 80% of the national wine production, however, with the arrival of French-style wines, these began to decline, considerably increasing the wine production of the central valleys. Consequently, in a few years, Itata begins a long decline that lasted until the first decade of the 2000s, when the ancestral strains gradually begin to return to the fore.
The Itata Valley has a generally humid Mediterranean climate, with marine influence and the presence of lower temperatures than in other valleys, as well as well-differentiated seasons, characterized by cool and windy days during the summer, as well as rainy days. in winter, allowing a slow and deliberate maturation. The soils, on the other hand, are sandy, granitic and rich in minerals, which allows a high productivity of the vines.
In fact, our Creole wine is from this area, a Morandé Adventures project, made up mostly of Cinsault and with a percentage of the País variety. It is an intensely fruity, fresh wine with a smooth structure, medium-light body, with notes of red fruits such as raspberry, sour cherry and light earthy aromas.
With this wine, Viña Morandé seeks to rescue these ancestral varieties, turning them into honest wines, capable of captivating a public captive of new experiences that connect them with the land, the roots and the wine. Because Creole is that, the reflection and faithful representative of the Chilean countryside.
