Innovation
Innovative Chile: Nature does its part; we do ours
Chile has a long history of growing vines. Wine has been present in our territory since the arrival of the Spanish conquerors, allowing a broad group of people to carry and pass down the skills of winemaking and working in the vineyard. In recent decades, the Chilean wine industry has incorporated the latest available technologies in order to make significant efforts not only to improve processes, but also the manual labor involved in them.
Vinnova and Tecno Vid have been particularly important in this area. Both technological consortia are dependent on Wines of Chile and work together with wineries, universities and research centers in order to explore and develop production methods that are more environmentally friendly and result in improved viticultural and oenological practices.
Today, one of the mayor concerns of our wine industry relates to the management of liquid wastes and the assessment of the carbon footprint of the wineries. Many companies are already working hard to neutralize the industry’s environmental impacts. Geographic barriers and the resulting isolation of our country make it naturally free of pests, a reason why today many wineries are producing grapes organically and bio-dynamically, even without having the certification that officially confirms these practices.
In relation to vineyards, significant efforts are being made in order to explore new terroirs, especially in cooler places where vines can be grown to produce wines that are naturally lower in alcohol content, and therefore, easier to drink. This means examining the soils in depth as well as working with the nurseries in order to ensure that they are free of viruses and that the newest plantations will have a longer productive life. But this also includes the search for new clones that will adapt well to our climate and soil conditions, allowing us to deliver wines with an authentic expression of their origin to the world.