Vino at the Viña

Last week we took a trip to the southeast part of Santiago to the vineyards and winery of Cousino-Macul. Originally it was built a distance from the city closer to the foothills of the Andes but since its formation, the city of Santiago has expanded to surround the winery. It was established in 1856 by Matias Cousino, a successful entrepreneur who had developed one of the richest silver mines in the north of Chile and later on constructed Chile’s first copper smelting plant. Along with extending railroads to the south and to the coast to export his products he also started Cousino-Macul Winery. Matias passed away during the establishment of the winery and left the task to his son, Luis Cousino.

Luis traveled to France in 1860 to purchase original grapevine rootstock from wineries all over France for Cab Sav, Merlot, Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. It was only three years later that the Phylloxera, and aphid like insect, was accidentally released by English Botanists into Europe. The epidemic killed off rootstock in wineries all across Europe and primarily in France.

Because of its geographical location, Chile’s wine region has been extremely protected from plagues, insects and epidemics from the outside world for years. It is secured by the dry Atacama Desert in the north, the Andes mountain range to the east, the narrow Strait of Magellan and Antarctica to the South and the Pacific Ocean to the west. This has allowed Cousino-Macul to become home to some of the oldest grapevine rootstock in the world.

Each of these barrels back in the caves has a large cork to hold in the pressure throughout the fermentation process. If there is a strong enough earthquake, some of the corks can wiggle loose and numerous barrels of wine can be ruined.

Deliciousness.