WSET3 Chile Climate and Wine Laws

Hello everybody my name is Jimmy Smith of Wine with Jimmy and welcome to the channel. I hope everyone's doing very well. Welcome to a section on the WSET level 3 certificate and this is the beginning of the Chilean series so we are going to be looking at three parts for Chile. This is the beginning section on the introduction, climate, weather and then wine laws. We'll also have a working written question at the end which many of you find very useful for preparing you for the level three examination. If you do have any comments, questions or concerns please do get in touch via either commenting on this video on YouTube getting in touch via the Wine with Jimmy website or looking at the social media links at the bottom of each slide. Okay so without further ado we should begin. So there is a picture of some Chilean vineyards. This is just around the Casablanca area and this is the Camanchasa fog which is quite important in the area. We'll talk a little bit about fogs very very shortly. Let's have a look a little bit at geographical features within Chile. So we have an idea on the layout of the land of this wonderful wine producing region. Maybe some of you have already viewed the Argentina videos and we'll talk a lot about the other side of course of the Andes mountains but this side we are on the Pacific side of the Andes mountains. So as it clearly is identified and I will put a little arrow here, there we go. So on the right hand side we are looking at the Andes which makes the real sort of spine of southern and central South America. So that's on that right hand side. You'll also see in this picture we have Santiago, the capital city of Chile, sitting in the middle and we need to have an understanding really about what these geographical features may do to vineyards and therefore grape growing and how they may shape. the styles of wine. One thing I didn't quickly mention then, it's just Chile as an overview, is the ninth biggest producer of wine in the world. It's about four percent of the world's wine production and it therefore puts it on about the same size as the region of Veneto in Italy. So it's actually not the largest by a long shot and it's just the same size as Veneto which is a you know sizable but not sizable for a whole country. There we go sorry. So yes it's quite an extensive area stretching around 900 kilometers for vineyards in length and then from around east to west it's around 100 kilometers so it's a very thin and elongated vineyard strip within this same sort of country layout. This is kind of like Portugal but stretched a little bit more and a So looking at the key areas then, you'll see that we've identified here the Andes mountain range. So we'd like to give you a kind of a reasoning on why Chile is what we call quite a locked country. So it has its, for its viticulture, has its vineyards in the kind of middle part of Chile, stretching along the kind of long elated, elongated location of Chile. On its eastern side, which I've identified there, is the Andes. So we'll scribble this in and I'll write it. It does say it there as well, but I'd like to put this up here as well. So the Andes mountain range is what forms our natural eastern border to Argentina for most of our vineyards anyway. OK, so that's fine. That's our eastern border. The northern border, actually, for viticulture, which is above the Cojimbo. wine area, the wine region, which includes Elki and Limari, is the Atacama Desert. Okay, so that sits way off to the north. So it's not important on this picture, that's why I've kind of put it down to the north. Then in the south we have the Cape. And then finally, of course, and I'll do this in blue because it must be really we have on to the western side, the Pacific. OK, so these are the four kind of main geographical features which then really sort of surround our country of Chile, also our wine region. So the very hot, dry Atacama Desert forming that northern boundary. The Andes, with its extensive mountain range, sometimes in excess of 5,000 metres, forms the eastern border. The Cape down to the south, past our wine regions like Bío, Bío Valley, Málaga and Itata, is in the southern section. And then the Pacific Ocean, of course, forms our westerly barrier. And in terms of these, let's talk about how those geographical features are important for grape growing. There's one more thing I want to mention here and this is in the middle of this picture. So we can see quite clearly we have the Andes mountain range which is all here in the easterly side. Then there are some foothills as it says down here. So I'm going to get a little arrow for this as well now as well so we know what we're looking at. So you can see that Piedmont or the foot of the mountains, the foothills. So this is where we'll find some vineyards as they go in towards the Andes. Then we have a depression, and that depression is what we call the central plane. Now, this is what sits between the Andes Mountains and the coastal mountain range. And that's what's identified just here. You can see that here, the coastal mountain range, a collection of mountain ranges which are much smaller in altitude than the Andes, but form a... natural barrier against the aggressive nature that can be the Pacific. It also causes many valleys. We'll have many valleys in this area. Aspect, different therefore direction of slopes, drainage, geology, soil types. It really means it's quite a diversity there. But it also means that we have the possibilities for a variety of productions. So if we go back to the first one we identify, which are the foothills. and the pyrrhonts, so your foot of the mountains. These will of course be higher altitude sites which will provide grape growing with higher acidities but also longer growing seasons which means higher tannin levels. So if you were to find Cabernet Sauvignon in areas of the foothills like the Maipo for instance in this picture then you will find that you will form more tannic structure and more acidity, basically more structure overall and ability to age. And that's actually what we call the alto-mipo in this instance, in this example. Then next to that is the central plane. The central plane is kind of a perfect sort of fertile landscape, which is in the valley in between the depression between the two mountain ranges. It gets ample amount of water from both of the mountain ranges, specifically the Andes. It's therefore well irrigated and it's also a heat trap area. So therefore, you'll find that ripening is very capable along the central plain. But also yields are also very consistent due to the abundance of water. Soils are fertile. Water is available. And then, of course, with warmth and sunlight here as a heat trap, you'll find that ripening is very capable. So the central plain or the central valley, therefore, makes a lot of Chile's big production numbers. And the central plain, the central valley, is where we find places like Cachapol, Colchagua and Curico, for instance. So some of the bigger parts of Chile, big volume zones. The coastal mountain range. is actually comprised of lots of strings of mountains with lower altitudes, but they are affected by what's on the left-hand side of your picture just here. So let's get that identified just here. As you can see, there are sea breezes that come in here, and those sea breezes are a result of what's called the Humboldt current, and we'll look at that in a second. It's a very important weather pattern that affects Chile. So these are, of course, cooling winds which you'll see there are many valleys that run down from the Andes and from some of the coastal mountain range and they come down to the Pacific. These sea breezes will come in and they'll go up the valleys therefore that means that they cool down those zones quite well making more balanced climatic conditions where you can grow a variety more of grape varieties so things like white varieties will be possible. in these slightly cooler conditions. You also will have from the mountains, you'll have cooler air that descends upon areas like the foothills. So you'll find that they are another source of cool air in these very warm zones. So once again, the Alto Maipo, which is just here in this region, is going to be cooled down by altitude and by the cool mountain breezes. If you come down to the left-hand side of this cross section to San Antonio and Casablanca, they're going to be cooled down by the Pacific sea breezes. So it's quite an expansive area with big differing effects due to both the mountains and by the Pacific. OK, so that really is what we look at in our main geographical features. So let's just go through some of the key pointers. The broad general climate of most of Chile would be classified as a warm Mediterranean climate. Okay, so that's quite a generalization. It's relatively dry and sunny and what does this mean for us as grape growers? Well, as I just mentioned, with certainly areas like the Central Valley, This dry and sunny conditions will mean consistent ripening. So year by year, there is consistent produce being found from vineyards. Low disease pressure due to the lack of moisture in certain months. So through the kind of winter months here and then leading up towards spring for picking, this will be a lack of therefore things like mildew and rot. So low disease pressure. So therefore less... combating techniques are needed such as spraying. Irrigation will sometimes be required in certain areas, certainly areas that are known as being very very dry like the north of Chile in the Coquimbo area so the Elqui and Limari who can have rainfall levels sometimes dangerously low around 100-150 millimeters per annum. But this low disease pressure and therefore minimal amount of spraying means that we have a really good percentage of sustainable grape growing and organic, of course, in play here, just like we will do in places like Argentina and South Africa for the same reasons. They are able to conform to the laws of organic viticulture due to the fact that they do not need to spray as much. OK, so there's some key pointers for you. Now, I've mentioned this already. This just gives you a slightly hazy picture, but you get the idea. You'll see the lime green part of Chile is where we find most of our vineyards stretching a good deal of latitudes, you know, nearly 20 types of latitudes, which is quite crazy. And that's, of course, in this southern hemisphere. So stretching across Chile, not all of Chile, but you'll notice here that there is a current that comes in from the western drift. This meets cold air which comes up from the Arctic and this is what we call the Humboldt current. This Humboldt current therefore then affects many parts of Chile and it is this in the Pacific, this Humboldt current which provides the cooling effects that you will find in areas that are coastal. So many parts of the Aconcagua, places like San Antonio, Leda and also Casablanca for instance. heavily controlled and cooled by the Humboldt current. So mightily important indeed. Also in these areas, sometimes in zones within the coastal mountain ranges where there are some heat traps, there will be heat that forms and when this cool air rises in, of course where hot meets cold, fogs will develop and there are many fogs that roll in in places like Casablanca for instance, called the Kamanchaza fog. And these fog-like conditions, which will happen in most mornings, will cause cooling conditions and also give the grapes a chance to recuperate after the sort of aggressive heat of the day. So it cools them down and that is said to really maintain quite high acidities in the grapes. So important for varieties, for instance, like Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay, our white grape varieties that we find there quite extensively. There's a couple of things we also need to mention which are not always constant. So these are occasional weather patterns, but quite significant weather patterns. We have something called the El Nino, which no doubt you have heard because the El Nino affects many parts of the Americas, many parts of Australasia as well. As you can see, this is a big Pacific weather pattern and affecting our countries down here. We're looking at Chile. down in this area see it says here like a cool water and strong Peruvian current as it heads across the Pacific. What we need to know for Chile just for the level three certificates is that rainfall levels will severely increase during these El Nino years. Now they're not every year so this is I can't remember the exact amount of years it happens but when it does happen rainfall across Chile will increase. They often get more mild winters but larger rainfalls during El Niño years. Then we have something called La Niña or the small girl or something along those lines. La Niña is the opposite effect and that's why we've got a picture here of a tremendously scorched and dried landscape within Chile. So drought will plague the coastal regions of Chile, those mountain coastal range zones and also parts of the Central Valley during La Niña years. So these are drought condition effects. So we've just learned about three quite key weather patterns. We have the current that comes from the Antarctica and joining with the western drift causing the Humboldt current which cools down coastal parts of Chile. Then we have El Niño which creates more mild winters but heavier rainfall years and that's not every year. La Niña which causes more drying effects and once again that doesn't happen every year. These are occasional weather cyclones or patterns. Okay let's have a little look at wine laws next. And just to understand the regions, first of all, in terms for viticulture, Chile is split into four main regions. We have the northern area, which includes Elqui and Limari for you guys on the level three. And this is called the Cojimbo area. So that is our northern zone. We then have the kind of greenish area, which also includes Casablanca, San Antonio and Leda. And this is the Aconcagua zone. It's quite famous, very famous of course, because quite close to Santiago, quite an extensive history here in Aconcagua. Then we have the Central Valley, including places like Cachapol, Colchagua, Churico and Mall Valley. The Central Valley is really the central sort of workhorse area of Chile's wine production. So that is the Central Valley. And then we have. the southern area or the southern region including Etata, Biobío and Malaco but they no longer require you to know anything really to understand around those bits maybe to recognize a few of them but there are four regions and then there are 13 DOs that are then spread across those four regions within Chile. So that gives you a bit of geographical basis of the zone. Now a little bit on wine laws. So these are the 2012 new edition wine laws. So in addition to the DOs, and the DOs are the sub-regions, things like San Antonio, things like Casablanca, things like Aconcagua, there are additional terminologies which are centred around how far the grapes are grown really from the coast. So first of all, we have here on this picture, Arrasariz's Aconcagua Costa, or the Aconcagua Coast. Aconcagua, by the way, is the highest peak of the Andes at this point. So the Costa means the coast. So this will be grown on the coastal areas only. And you are, of course, looking for, as it says here, they give you a description, coastal vineyards, schist soils, bring in aromatics and elegance and a cool climate terroir. So you've got cooler. growing conditions which often means quite a benefit for those white varieties. Here we have a Conchiturro label called Toruño and this is called Entre Cordilleras and this means between the mountain ranges. So this sits between the coastal mountain ranges and the Andes. So this is going to be that central area. So this will you know potentially be in central valley or areas around the cities areas around places like santiago but it's a little bit more of a sexier name than just saying central central valley and then if it is a mountain-based vineyard it will say the Andes on it. So these are three new terminologies which are not mandatory. They are also used in conjunction with the DOs. So they are not always found on labels because it completely is the decision of the grape grower winemaker for he, for her or him to decide whether this is going to be the case. erasers seem to be adopting it conchita seems to be adopting it let's see if smaller producers will adopt it as well so Costa on to record address and and these other wine laws which are a little bit more marketing spiel than actual fact a little bit more fiction here is things like a Reserva the Calatela Reserva just a connoisseur reserve especial common ground reserve and then Casalero del Diablo Reserva Privada. So you have Reserva, Special Reserva, you have Grand Reserva, you have Private Reserve. All of these do not have any kind of law behind them so therefore these are terminologies which are found on labels but can be misleading because they are loosely defined. But they can be if you are looking at a portfolio of a producer say like Conciatoro connoisseur etc you may see that these are distinctions or differences between their portfolio so they may have a standard Sauvignon Blanc and then a reserve or a speciale etc which should mean something of a little bit higher quality but do they actually mean higher quality maybe not maybe they're treated in a different way maybe it's in some oak or malolactic or whatever so these are wine laws which are not ratified in law but certainly can be found on labels They do not adhere to the same sort of laws that we will find in places like Spain and Italy. When we find these terminologies it often means things like extra ageing in barrel and in bottle, more stipulations on at minimum alcohol levels and yields and so on. It does not follow that kind of law. Okay so often people ask what does it actually mean, reserver in Chile? And a tutor who's wise and witty will say not. much is normally the way to answer that. Okay so let's go through a working written question so we can instill a little bit of confidence in you so you're able to go into a level three examination with more confidence to gain that all elusive pass. Remember it's a challenging examination. You will need to of course really practice your working written questions so these are your short short answer questions of which you will be given four of them in your level three examination. Here is a question. So we call these series, remember, understanding because at level three, you are required to understand. You're often required to understand a factor and then how it affects a style. So state and describe four weather or geographical effects that influence Chile's grape growing regions. Okay. quite broad because it's saying weather, so weather and climate. Geographical could include things like rivers, lakes, things like mountain ranges of course. So let's go through these. First of all the massive geological, geographical feature that runs to the east of Chile on that border of Argentina is the mountain range called the Andes. The Andes is a source of cooler air to the regions in the foothills, so you'll find that, and also a little bit into the Central Valley, and can cause larger diurnal differences with those cooling effects as well. So diurnal differences being the differences between the warmth of the day and the coldness of the night, so more of a temperature swing between these. Then something we mentioned quite significantly. The Humboldt current flows up from Antarctica along the Chilean coast blowing cooler air into the valleys and also creating fogs close to the coast. You are not required to remember the name of the fog in this instance. I did tell you it early, the Kamanchassa fog, but you are not required at level 3. El Niño occurs in some years, dramatically increasing rainfall, so it's not that common, but it will happen. So that is a possibility. Then we have La Niña occurs in some years, and that's more famous for causing drought-like conditions. Remember, I had that picture up with the very parched earth. And that's really, that would be enough to get you eight marks. You are stating a certain weather fact, so the Andes, the humble current. El Niño La Niña and then you're describing it for the extra mark on top of that and that's what you will get here. We haven't gone into how it affects the style of wine often possibly that's the way the next part of the question will go but we haven't done that here. Some of you may have said well there are other things I could have mentioned here and of course there are. You could say that the depression which is between the mountain ranges that's the central valley actually can act like a heat trap and that causes better ripening overall, but you wouldn't need to mention that at this point. And also you could mention geographically, the high altitudes can cause cooler growing conditions as well. So things like the Elke, Limari, Altomipo, for instance, all have quite high altitudes behind them. Okay, so that is for eight marks. Another question. state and describe the overall climate of Chile's wine region. So the overall climate was two marks and then the description of it for four marks. So the overall climate, when you are describing a climate, please put down the warmth category and then the overall macro climate. That's what we're asking here. So don't just put down maritime. Don't just put down continental. You need to be saying cool maritime or moderate. continental or warm Mediterranean, whatever it may be. In our instance here for the two marks, we are looking at a warm Mediterranean climate. Okay, now from previous studies and learning about your viticulture, you should know what the average growing season temperatures will be like in warm conditions and that will form a part of your description coming up next. You also then need to describe what Mediterranean is. So let's go for it. Here we go. So Mediterranean is low temperature differences between the hottest and coldest months. So that's what actually is putting on par with maritime a little bit, but with very warm and dry summers. So Mediterranean's tend to be towards maritime, but then with the continentality a little bit towards it in terms of heat. So it sits kind of in the middle. More warmth and sunlight than maritime with average growing season temperatures between 18.5 to 21 degrees Celsius. And that's because this is a warm Mediterranean and there are lower rainfalls than maritime as well. This is what WSET states in their section under maritime towards the front of your book. The warm part of it is the knowledge knowing that Chile is mainly warm and that gives you that other part which you'll also find in the same section. So it's actually not information that you'll glean from the Chilean section. This is from earlier on in the book, which is quite a common connection that you will need to make. OK, that brings me to the end of Chile part one, the introduction, climate, weather and also some very basic wine laws. So I've been Jimmy Smith of Wine with Jimmy. I hope you've enjoyed this presentation. We have part two on the black grape varieties featuring Carmenere and then part three on the white grape varieties with quite a few working written questions after that. Part two and three are only available to our portal subscribers. So that's winewithjimmy.com and you can go and click and subscribe to the portal there. The portal has. lots of more exclusive video content so you have hours upon hours of extra video content to help you with your studies plus we have flashcards multiple choice questions short written answer questions and revision sessions as well so very very useful place for you to sign up if you are revising for your WSET level 3 exam So thank you so much once again. If you have any comments, questions or concerns, please do get in touch either by commenting on this video, getting in touch via the Wine with Jimmy website or social media at the bottom of the slides. The last thing is if you do ever come to London in the United Kingdom, please do get in touch. You can come and see us for a class, a glass or a bottle. Thank you so much. Cheers for now. Bye bye.

We'll also have a working written question at the end which many of you find very useful for preparing you for the level three examination. If you do have any comments, questions or concerns please do get in touch via either commenting on this video on YouTube getting in touch via the Wine with Jimmy website or looking at the social media links at the bottom of each slide. Okay so without further ado we should begin. So there is a picture of some Chilean vineyards.

This is just around the Casablanca area and this is the Camanchasa fog which is quite important in the area. We'll talk a little bit about fogs very very shortly. Let's have a look a little bit at geographical features within Chile.

So we have an idea on the layout of the land of this wonderful wine producing region. Maybe some of you have already viewed the Argentina videos and we'll talk a lot about the other side of course of the Andes mountains but this side we are on the Pacific side of the Andes mountains. So as it clearly is identified and I will put a little arrow here, there we go. So on the right hand side we are looking at the Andes which makes the real sort of spine of southern and central South America. So that's on that right hand side.

You'll also see in this picture we have Santiago, the capital city of Chile, sitting in the middle and we need to have an understanding really about what these geographical features may do to vineyards and therefore grape growing and how they may shape. the styles of wine. One thing I didn't quickly mention then, it's just Chile as an overview, is the ninth biggest producer of wine in the world. It's about four percent of the world's wine production and it therefore puts it on about the same size as the region of Veneto in Italy.

So it's actually not the largest by a long shot and it's just the same size as Veneto which is a you know sizable but not sizable for a whole country. There we go sorry. So yes it's quite an extensive area stretching around 900 kilometers for vineyards in length and then from around east to west it's around 100 kilometers so it's a very thin and elongated vineyard strip within this same sort of country layout. This is kind of like Portugal but stretched a little bit more and a So looking at the key areas then, you'll see that we've identified here the Andes mountain range. So we'd like to give you a kind of a reasoning on why Chile is what we call quite a locked country.

So it has its, for its viticulture, has its vineyards in the kind of middle part of Chile, stretching along the kind of long elated, elongated location of Chile. On its eastern side, which I've identified there, is the Andes. So we'll scribble this in and I'll write it. It does say it there as well, but I'd like to put this up here as well.

So the Andes mountain range is what forms our natural eastern border to Argentina for most of our vineyards anyway. OK, so that's fine. That's our eastern border. The northern border, actually, for viticulture, which is above the Cojimbo.

wine area, the wine region, which includes Elki and Limari, is the Atacama Desert. Okay, so that sits way off to the north. So it's not important on this picture, that's why I've kind of put it down to the north. Then in the south we have the Cape. And then finally, of course, and I'll do this in blue because it must be really we have on to the western side, the Pacific.

OK, so these are the four kind of main geographical features which then really sort of surround our country of Chile, also our wine region. So the very hot, dry Atacama Desert forming that northern boundary. The Andes, with its extensive mountain range, sometimes in excess of 5,000 metres, forms the eastern border.

The Cape down to the south, past our wine regions like Bío, Bío Valley, Málaga and Itata, is in the southern section. And then the Pacific Ocean, of course, forms our westerly barrier. And in terms of these, let's talk about how those geographical features are important for grape growing. There's one more thing I want to mention here and this is in the middle of this picture. So we can see quite clearly we have the Andes mountain range which is all here in the easterly side.

Then there are some foothills as it says down here. So I'm going to get a little arrow for this as well now as well so we know what we're looking at. So you can see that Piedmont or the foot of the mountains, the foothills.

So this is where we'll find some vineyards as they go in towards the Andes. Then we have a depression, and that depression is what we call the central plane. Now, this is what sits between the Andes Mountains and the coastal mountain range.

And that's what's identified just here. You can see that here, the coastal mountain range, a collection of mountain ranges which are much smaller in altitude than the Andes, but form a... natural barrier against the aggressive nature that can be the Pacific. It also causes many valleys. We'll have many valleys in this area.

Aspect, different therefore direction of slopes, drainage, geology, soil types. It really means it's quite a diversity there. But it also means that we have the possibilities for a variety of productions. So if we go back to the first one we identify, which are the foothills. and the pyrrhonts, so your foot of the mountains.

These will of course be higher altitude sites which will provide grape growing with higher acidities but also longer growing seasons which means higher tannin levels. So if you were to find Cabernet Sauvignon in areas of the foothills like the Maipo for instance in this picture then you will find that you will form more tannic structure and more acidity, basically more structure overall and ability to age. And that's actually what we call the alto-mipo in this instance, in this example.

Then next to that is the central plane. The central plane is kind of a perfect sort of fertile landscape, which is in the valley in between the depression between the two mountain ranges. It gets ample amount of water from both of the mountain ranges, specifically the Andes.

It's therefore well irrigated and it's also a heat trap area. So therefore, you'll find that ripening is very capable along the central plain. But also yields are also very consistent due to the abundance of water.

Soils are fertile. Water is available. And then, of course, with warmth and sunlight here as a heat trap, you'll find that ripening is very capable.

So the central plain or the central valley, therefore, makes a lot of Chile's big production numbers. And the central plain, the central valley, is where we find places like Cachapol, Colchagua and Curico, for instance. So some of the bigger parts of Chile, big volume zones. The coastal mountain range. is actually comprised of lots of strings of mountains with lower altitudes, but they are affected by what's on the left-hand side of your picture just here.

So let's get that identified just here. As you can see, there are sea breezes that come in here, and those sea breezes are a result of what's called the Humboldt current, and we'll look at that in a second. It's a very important weather pattern that affects Chile. So these are, of course, cooling winds which you'll see there are many valleys that run down from the Andes and from some of the coastal mountain range and they come down to the Pacific.

These sea breezes will come in and they'll go up the valleys therefore that means that they cool down those zones quite well making more balanced climatic conditions where you can grow a variety more of grape varieties so things like white varieties will be possible. in these slightly cooler conditions. You also will have from the mountains, you'll have cooler air that descends upon areas like the foothills. So you'll find that they are another source of cool air in these very warm zones. So once again, the Alto Maipo, which is just here in this region, is going to be cooled down by altitude and by the cool mountain breezes.

If you come down to the left-hand side of this cross section to San Antonio and Casablanca, they're going to be cooled down by the Pacific sea breezes. So it's quite an expansive area with big differing effects due to both the mountains and by the Pacific. OK, so that really is what we look at in our main geographical features.

So let's just go through some of the key pointers. The broad general climate of most of Chile would be classified as a warm Mediterranean climate. Okay, so that's quite a generalization.

It's relatively dry and sunny and what does this mean for us as grape growers? Well, as I just mentioned, with certainly areas like the Central Valley, This dry and sunny conditions will mean consistent ripening. So year by year, there is consistent produce being found from vineyards.

Low disease pressure due to the lack of moisture in certain months. So through the kind of winter months here and then leading up towards spring for picking, this will be a lack of therefore things like mildew and rot. So low disease pressure. So therefore less...

combating techniques are needed such as spraying. Irrigation will sometimes be required in certain areas, certainly areas that are known as being very very dry like the north of Chile in the Coquimbo area so the Elqui and Limari who can have rainfall levels sometimes dangerously low around 100-150 millimeters per annum. But this low disease pressure and therefore minimal amount of spraying means that we have a really good percentage of sustainable grape growing and organic, of course, in play here, just like we will do in places like Argentina and South Africa for the same reasons.

They are able to conform to the laws of organic viticulture due to the fact that they do not need to spray as much. OK, so there's some key pointers for you. Now, I've mentioned this already. This just gives you a slightly hazy picture, but you get the idea. You'll see the lime green part of Chile is where we find most of our vineyards stretching a good deal of latitudes, you know, nearly 20 types of latitudes, which is quite crazy.

And that's, of course, in this southern hemisphere. So stretching across Chile, not all of Chile, but you'll notice here that there is a current that comes in from the western drift. This meets cold air which comes up from the Arctic and this is what we call the Humboldt current.

This Humboldt current therefore then affects many parts of Chile and it is this in the Pacific, this Humboldt current which provides the cooling effects that you will find in areas that are coastal. So many parts of the Aconcagua, places like San Antonio, Leda and also Casablanca for instance. heavily controlled and cooled by the Humboldt current.

So mightily important indeed. Also in these areas, sometimes in zones within the coastal mountain ranges where there are some heat traps, there will be heat that forms and when this cool air rises in, of course where hot meets cold, fogs will develop and there are many fogs that roll in in places like Casablanca for instance, called the Kamanchaza fog. And these fog-like conditions, which will happen in most mornings, will cause cooling conditions and also give the grapes a chance to recuperate after the sort of aggressive heat of the day. So it cools them down and that is said to really maintain quite high acidities in the grapes.

So important for varieties, for instance, like Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay, our white grape varieties that we find there quite extensively. There's a couple of things we also need to mention which are not always constant. So these are occasional weather patterns, but quite significant weather patterns. We have something called the El Nino, which no doubt you have heard because the El Nino affects many parts of the Americas, many parts of Australasia as well.

As you can see, this is a big Pacific weather pattern and affecting our countries down here. We're looking at Chile. down in this area see it says here like a cool water and strong Peruvian current as it heads across the Pacific. What we need to know for Chile just for the level three certificates is that rainfall levels will severely increase during these El Nino years.

Now they're not every year so this is I can't remember the exact amount of years it happens but when it does happen rainfall across Chile will increase. They often get more mild winters but larger rainfalls during El Niño years. Then we have something called La Niña or the small girl or something along those lines.

La Niña is the opposite effect and that's why we've got a picture here of a tremendously scorched and dried landscape within Chile. So drought will plague the coastal regions of Chile, those mountain coastal range zones and also parts of the Central Valley during La Niña years. So these are drought condition effects. So we've just learned about three quite key weather patterns.

We have the current that comes from the Antarctica and joining with the western drift causing the Humboldt current which cools down coastal parts of Chile. Then we have El Niño which creates more mild winters but heavier rainfall years and that's not every year. La Niña which causes more drying effects and once again that doesn't happen every year. These are occasional weather cyclones or patterns. Okay let's have a little look at wine laws next.

And just to understand the regions, first of all, in terms for viticulture, Chile is split into four main regions. We have the northern area, which includes Elqui and Limari for you guys on the level three. And this is called the Cojimbo area.

So that is our northern zone. We then have the kind of greenish area, which also includes Casablanca, San Antonio and Leda. And this is the Aconcagua zone.

It's quite famous, very famous of course, because quite close to Santiago, quite an extensive history here in Aconcagua. Then we have the Central Valley, including places like Cachapol, Colchagua, Churico and Mall Valley. The Central Valley is really the central sort of workhorse area of Chile's wine production.

So that is the Central Valley. And then we have. the southern area or the southern region including Etata, Biobío and Malaco but they no longer require you to know anything really to understand around those bits maybe to recognize a few of them but there are four regions and then there are 13 DOs that are then spread across those four regions within Chile. So that gives you a bit of geographical basis of the zone.

Now a little bit on wine laws. So these are the 2012 new edition wine laws. So in addition to the DOs, and the DOs are the sub-regions, things like San Antonio, things like Casablanca, things like Aconcagua, there are additional terminologies which are centred around how far the grapes are grown really from the coast. So first of all, we have here on this picture, Arrasariz's Aconcagua Costa, or the Aconcagua Coast. Aconcagua, by the way, is the highest peak of the Andes at this point.

So the Costa means the coast. So this will be grown on the coastal areas only. And you are, of course, looking for, as it says here, they give you a description, coastal vineyards, schist soils, bring in aromatics and elegance and a cool climate terroir. So you've got cooler. growing conditions which often means quite a benefit for those white varieties.

Here we have a Conchiturro label called Toruño and this is called Entre Cordilleras and this means between the mountain ranges. So this sits between the coastal mountain ranges and the Andes. So this is going to be that central area. So this will you know potentially be in central valley or areas around the cities areas around places like santiago but it's a little bit more of a sexier name than just saying central central valley and then if it is a mountain-based vineyard it will say the Andes on it. So these are three new terminologies which are not mandatory.

They are also used in conjunction with the DOs. So they are not always found on labels because it completely is the decision of the grape grower winemaker for he, for her or him to decide whether this is going to be the case. erasers seem to be adopting it conchita seems to be adopting it let's see if smaller producers will adopt it as well so Costa on to record address and and these other wine laws which are a little bit more marketing spiel than actual fact a little bit more fiction here is things like a Reserva the Calatela Reserva just a connoisseur reserve especial common ground reserve and then Casalero del Diablo Reserva Privada.

So you have Reserva, Special Reserva, you have Grand Reserva, you have Private Reserve. All of these do not have any kind of law behind them so therefore these are terminologies which are found on labels but can be misleading because they are loosely defined. But they can be if you are looking at a portfolio of a producer say like Conciatoro connoisseur etc you may see that these are distinctions or differences between their portfolio so they may have a standard Sauvignon Blanc and then a reserve or a speciale etc which should mean something of a little bit higher quality but do they actually mean higher quality maybe not maybe they're treated in a different way maybe it's in some oak or malolactic or whatever so these are wine laws which are not ratified in law but certainly can be found on labels They do not adhere to the same sort of laws that we will find in places like Spain and Italy.

When we find these terminologies it often means things like extra ageing in barrel and in bottle, more stipulations on at minimum alcohol levels and yields and so on. It does not follow that kind of law. Okay so often people ask what does it actually mean, reserver in Chile? And a tutor who's wise and witty will say not.

much is normally the way to answer that. Okay so let's go through a working written question so we can instill a little bit of confidence in you so you're able to go into a level three examination with more confidence to gain that all elusive pass. Remember it's a challenging examination.

You will need to of course really practice your working written questions so these are your short short answer questions of which you will be given four of them in your level three examination. Here is a question. So we call these series, remember, understanding because at level three, you are required to understand. You're often required to understand a factor and then how it affects a style.

So state and describe four weather or geographical effects that influence Chile's grape growing regions. Okay. quite broad because it's saying weather, so weather and climate. Geographical could include things like rivers, lakes, things like mountain ranges of course.

So let's go through these. First of all the massive geological, geographical feature that runs to the east of Chile on that border of Argentina is the mountain range called the Andes. The Andes is a source of cooler air to the regions in the foothills, so you'll find that, and also a little bit into the Central Valley, and can cause larger diurnal differences with those cooling effects as well. So diurnal differences being the differences between the warmth of the day and the coldness of the night, so more of a temperature swing between these.

Then something we mentioned quite significantly. The Humboldt current flows up from Antarctica along the Chilean coast blowing cooler air into the valleys and also creating fogs close to the coast. You are not required to remember the name of the fog in this instance.

I did tell you it early, the Kamanchassa fog, but you are not required at level 3. El Niño occurs in some years, dramatically increasing rainfall, so it's not that common, but it will happen. So that is a possibility. Then we have La Niña occurs in some years, and that's more famous for causing drought-like conditions. Remember, I had that picture up with the very parched earth.

And that's really, that would be enough to get you eight marks. You are stating a certain weather fact, so the Andes, the humble current. El Niño La Niña and then you're describing it for the extra mark on top of that and that's what you will get here.

We haven't gone into how it affects the style of wine often possibly that's the way the next part of the question will go but we haven't done that here. Some of you may have said well there are other things I could have mentioned here and of course there are. You could say that the depression which is between the mountain ranges that's the central valley actually can act like a heat trap and that causes better ripening overall, but you wouldn't need to mention that at this point.

And also you could mention geographically, the high altitudes can cause cooler growing conditions as well. So things like the Elke, Limari, Altomipo, for instance, all have quite high altitudes behind them. Okay, so that is for eight marks. Another question.

state and describe the overall climate of Chile's wine region. So the overall climate was two marks and then the description of it for four marks. So the overall climate, when you are describing a climate, please put down the warmth category and then the overall macro climate. That's what we're asking here. So don't just put down maritime.

Don't just put down continental. You need to be saying cool maritime or moderate. continental or warm Mediterranean, whatever it may be.

In our instance here for the two marks, we are looking at a warm Mediterranean climate. Okay, now from previous studies and learning about your viticulture, you should know what the average growing season temperatures will be like in warm conditions and that will form a part of your description coming up next. You also then need to describe what Mediterranean is. So let's go for it. Here we go.

So Mediterranean is low temperature differences between the hottest and coldest months. So that's what actually is putting on par with maritime a little bit, but with very warm and dry summers. So Mediterranean's tend to be towards maritime, but then with the continentality a little bit towards it in terms of heat. So it sits kind of in the middle. More warmth and sunlight than maritime with average growing season temperatures between 18.5 to 21 degrees Celsius.

And that's because this is a warm Mediterranean and there are lower rainfalls than maritime as well. This is what WSET states in their section under maritime towards the front of your book. The warm part of it is the knowledge knowing that Chile is mainly warm and that gives you that other part which you'll also find in the same section. So it's actually not information that you'll glean from the Chilean section. This is from earlier on in the book, which is quite a common connection that you will need to make.

OK, that brings me to the end of Chile part one, the introduction, climate, weather and also some very basic wine laws. So I've been Jimmy Smith of Wine with Jimmy. I hope you've enjoyed this presentation. We have part two on the black grape varieties featuring Carmenere and then part three on the white grape varieties with quite a few working written questions after that.

Part two and three are only available to our portal subscribers. So that's winewithjimmy.com and you can go and click and subscribe to the portal there. The portal has.

lots of more exclusive video content so you have hours upon hours of extra video content to help you with your studies plus we have flashcards multiple choice questions short written answer questions and revision sessions as well so very very useful place for you to sign up if you are revising for your WSET level 3 exam So thank you so much once again. If you have any comments, questions or concerns, please do get in touch either by commenting on this video, getting in touch via the Wine with Jimmy website or social media at the bottom of the slides. The last thing is if you do ever come to London in the United Kingdom, please do get in touch. You can come and see us for a class, a glass or a bottle.

Thank you so much. Cheers for now. Bye bye.

Transcript for:WSET3 Chile Climate and Wine Laws

Transcript for:
WSET3 Chile Climate and Wine Laws