|
|
 |
|
| Wine & Spirits |
Southern Exposure
Tara Weingarten
05/02/2005
|
“I walked into the Apalta vineyard and just had a feeling about it, that it could be really something grand,” she says. “It has been everything that I imagined it would be and more. Chile is the Switzerland of South America. It is easy to invest your money, and it is a stable and lawful country nowadays. Plus, the economy is growing at a steady 6 percent, so it is a very fruitful place to be right now.” The land Marnier-Lapostolle purchased in Chile in the early 1990s for a few thousand dollars per acre is now worth close to $40,000 per acre. Of course, this makes it more expensive to expand existing facilities.
 | | AFTER FLINCHING at first,
winemaker Paul Hobbs saw promise in Argentina’s
vineyards. He now
produces Cobos there. |
Much of Argentina’s and Chile’s viticulture looks very much like Napa and Sonoma did 30 years ago, when high-quality wine production was becoming the norm in California. South American vineyard hands and winemakers, trained by French and North American experts, are up to speed. Investors no longer need to bring in experts or equipment from abroad.
Dry Wits
Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy’s Terrazas, a state-of-the-art winery started in 1997 in Mendoza, recently released a premium wine in partnership with the Grand Cru Chateau Cheval Blanc. Called Cheval des Andes, it is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec that sells for $65. “If you look at the winery landscape in South America, the finest houses from Bordeaux are here,” says Manuel Louzada, Terrazas’ winemaker. “They would not be here if they did not believe we could make superb wine. I would put Cheval des Andes up to any fine wine for comparison.” Baron Philippe de Rothschild is also on the South American scene. In the early 1990s, the company partnered with Concha y Toro in Chile’s Maipo Valley region to launch the Almaviva label.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
