Local Viticulturalist Andrés Sanchez is spear-heading two exciting new entrepreneurial pursuits for the Loncomilla Valley.
First up – Chile has very strict laws about importing agricultural goods, so the variety of grapes has been mainly limited to Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Carmenere, plus a few others. Andrés, along with his Italian partner Mauricio, has imported many new Italian varietals that aren’t widely available in Chile. As a winemaker he is keen to continue the increasing demand for Chilean wines so he is facilitating an expansion in the types of grape grown in Chile. He will plant hundreds of newly propagated vines, in multiple different Italian varietals in order to propagate and supply them to farmers in Chile.
To make sure the Italian vines have a rustic start, Monika has also moved from Italy to the Lancomilla Valley. Monika (pictured above) has her own propagation business in Italy where she manages 180 different varieties of vines, so she will ensure the Italian grapes are well looked after.
The initial row was planted last week and Monika baptised the new vines using some of Andrés’ home brew as well as a few words to acknowledge the luscious Chilean soil and natural world around.
