WINE IN CHILE:
Ask any young wine-maker where he would most like to work outside his native country and the answer will always be Chile . Why? Because it is without doubt one of the world's most dynamic wine economies. There are a clutch of Chilean producers - Tabali, Anakena, Los Vascos, Altaire and Errazuriz, to name but a few - that, in terms of quality and price, are light years ahead of the pack.
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Take Anakena, in the Rapel valley. The first vines were only planted in 1999, and it didn't have its first vintage until 2002. But Gonzalo Perez, the studious chief wine-maker, is typical of the new breed of Vigneron found in Chile - he is not afraid to experiment. Where else would you find a blend of Riesling, Viognier and Chardonnay? When I visited, he was talking about pinot noir, syrah and merlot - why not? In just three years, Perez is producing wine that demands attention.
What makes Chile so exciting is an anything-is-possible attitude. Like the skyscraper boom in early-20th-century New York , these wine-makers are constantly striving to outperform each other. A few years ago they were planting on the valley floors, to achieve maximum ripeness. Now there is a spate of plantings on higher ground, to achieve longer ripening - which produces wine with better acidity, more complexity and more minerality
One wine estate to track down is Tabali. Based in the Limari valley, north of Santiago and just a few miles from the Pacific, the region produces some frighteningly good wines . A cool sea breeze extends the grape-ripening process, resulting in wines that are incredibly subtle. The Chablis-like chardonnay turned out to be my favorite wine of the trip, while the pinot noir is simply extraordinary.
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