I’ve been following this exciting idea from the beginning, the people involved, their projects, and their careers.

Around October 2009 I got in contact by email with Felipe Garcia, a talented winemaker who was involved at Calina and Casas del Bosque wineries, as well as consulting Echeverria and Laura Hartwig. Now he is one of the faces of MOVI.

MOVI means Movement of Independent Vintners, sounds different, doesn’t it? Especially while at the same time the current trend is that big wineries are buying small wineries and big holding groups are swallowing different wineries all over the place.

MOVI seems to me as a dream of enthusiastic people who believes in wine as a simple expression, personal ideas making personal wines, what is know in the wine world as the “Garage Wineries”.

Some growers of MOVI are bigger than others, but in essence they have the same thought, make the wine accessible, to the point that you can talk with the person who made it, and understand what he enjoys about it and what is the message behind the bottle.

Felipe and his wife Constanza are Bravado Wines, and they invited us to have dinner and enjoy a MOVI wine tasting at his place, He cooked a beautiful big shank of meat and between laughs we shared a bit of our lives and enjoyed some great wines.

We tried 18 bottles and I am happy to tell you a bit about them:

Marina Bravado Wines Sauvignon Blanc Casablanca Valley
Bright Greenish colour with a bell pepper nose, became citric over time, I really enjoyed the acidity and the weight in middle palate. Worth a try.

Aylin Sauvignon Blanc, Leyda, San Antonio Valley
Pale and clear in the glass, crispy nose of fresh green apples, great acidity. I love Leyda!!!

Grande Reserve Clos Andino Chardonnay, Casablanca Valley
Yellow colour and a nose full of nuts, is a super friendly wine with a light body that makes it as drinkable as juice.

Trabun Syrah Trabun Estate, Cachapoal Valley
Great artwork on the bottle, red fruit and hint of smoke, it’s not perfect but looks funky.

I latina Syrah Latina Estate, Cachapoal Valley
Dark purple colour, vibrant fresh fruit, spicy and with great stucture. It is a wine that invites you to drink the whole bottle in one go.

Polkura Syrah, Marchigue, Colchagua Valley
Dark colour, nose of black cherry and a tiny bit of blackberry. In the mouth it offers an underlying earthiness and leathery flavours but nothing to drive you crazy. Is got a short finish.

Polkura “Block G1″ Syrah, Colchagua Valley
Inky colour, there is more work in this one than the last one, this wine has a firm nose of blackberry and cassis. In the mouth it is rich and broad with velvety tannins and a long finish.

Emocion Starry Night Reserva Pinot Noir, Maipo Valley
very friendly wine displayss cherries and a tiny bit of cedar. Perfect every day one, I really enjoy this one because it is simple and direct.

Clos Andino Cabernet Sauvignon Grande Reserve, Maipo Valley
Medium dark colour, has a sweet nose of cherry and chocolate. In the mouth it offers a long finish.

Hacedor de Mundos Cabernet Franc Reserva Gillmore, Loncomilla Valley
Great Label design. If you like sharp tannins, this is your variety. Green notes that reminds me of eucalyptus, which is property of the variety, is quite fresh and it can live for ages in the bottle. Worth a try.

# 19 Cabernet Franc Garage Wine Co. , Maipo Valley
Pale red colour, pepper and raspberries up front follow by a leafy note, it is fresh with a firm tannin. I have to get used to this variety.

Golden Breast Syrah/Malbec/Cab Sav/Cab Franc Rukumilla , Maipo Valley
A Blend with lots of different aspects to look at. It is quite earthy, the fruit is there but not really clean, I think will get better with time. I would love to try it again in 6 months.

Reserva Flaherty Syrah/Cab Sauvignon, Aconcagua Valley
Dark garnet in colour, this wine has a nose of barnyard, cedar, and dried cherries. In the mouth it offers dried cherry fruit, light tannins and a dirt and leather sort of flavour as the wine finishes.

# 18 Garage Wine Co. Cabernet Sauvignon/Carignan , Maipo Valley
Dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of gamey meat, berries, and cassis. In the mouth it offers cedar flavours with lightly bitter, faint tannins that linger into the finish.

Erasmo Cabernet Sav/Merlot/Cabernet Franc Caliboro, Maule Valley
Medium dark colour has a nose of mixed fresh herbs, and cherries. In the mouth is got some sour cherry and raspberry flavours. Good acidity balances with sharp tannins, moderate finish.

Facundo Cabernet Fran/Carignan/Carmenere Bravado Wines, Central Valley
Purple colour. Close spicy nose. Is got some nerve going on in the palate. I would like to try it again in 6 more months, It needs some time in the bottle, but I can see where this wine is heading. An interesting blend. Great for cellaring.

Cobre Gran Reserve Gillmore, Loncomilla Valley
Medium dark colour. Nose of Cherry and Cedar. In the mouth it offers darkly complex flavours of cherries, tobacco, and wood. Nice acidity with a lovely earthiness. I can’t believe that this is a 2003 vintage. Great cellaring potential.

Posted by David Stevens-Castro at 5:13 AM

CASTELLANO:

El Bloque “H”

Cada año me digo a mi mismo: “Este año es tan especial”, y 2010 no es una excepción. ¡Qué hermoso trabajo, que es el hacer algo diferente cada añada en función de lo que la naturaleza nos entrega.
Un invierno frío y por sobre todo, una primavera muy fresca con fuertes heladas en algunas zonas han determinado por una parte, rendimientos naturales muy bajos, junto a una maduración de la fruta muy lenta. En Marchigue, tuvimos algo de heladas en octubre, cosa que no es lo normal. Estimo que el rendimiento será finalmente un 20% menor a lo esperado, estando la cosecha alrededor de 10-15 días atrasada. Para ser honesto, no tengo ningún problema con todo esto. Hubiésemos cosechado en verde de todos modos (raleo de fruta para mejorar calidad), cosa que no fue necesaria este año. Una buena condición es poder dejar las uvas colgadas un poco más de tiempo, sin que la concentración de azúcar sea demasiado alta.
El primer lote de POLKURA 2010 se cosechó el 31 de marzo. Solamente la mitad del equipo contratado llegó a trabajar, sin embargo, se logró vendimiar 4,2 de un total de 5 toneladas. Definitivamente trabajaron muy duro. Normalmente se recoge la mayoría de la uva a mediados o fines de abril, pero el Syrah del cuartel “H” nos gusta cosecharlo antes. Hemos hecho esto desde hace un par de años y los resultados han sido excelentes. Esto agrega algo de frescura y complejidad al vino resultante. También me gusta co-fermentar con otras cepas ya que los diferentes sabores se integran mejor si la fermentación ocurre en conjunto. En este caso fue el turno del Grenache Noir. 14% de esta cepa fue procesada junto con Syrah. Espero que podamos mantener el mosto en maceración fría, sin fermentar durante una semana, antes de que comience la fermentación alcohólica.
El siguiente lote a ser cosechado será durante la próxima semana, nuestra uva contratada para el AYLIN Sauvignon Blanc de Leyda, en el Valle de San Antonio.

Pepe lived with his family near the winery in Camino a Lonquén next to a grain silo. The silo had leaned slightly to the east since the quake of 1985 but inexplicably toppled and fell to the west on top of Pepe’s house where his entire family was deep in sleep in the early hours of Feb 27. Four adults and three children lost their lives in the tragedy.

Once the house started shaking, my wife went to the kid’s room to see how they were doing, but hang on… nobody was there. It took several seconds for her to remember they were not home. In the meantime I was trying to hold her but as soon as I got close enough either her or I fell. We managed to lean on the wall and then she crawled towards the phone. While the earth was still moving she managed to ring my parents. It was probably one of the few phone calls that got thru that night before most communication systems in Chile collapsed. They were all fine.

Quintay is 300 km away from Curico. We packed tents, sleeping bags, a stove, 25 litres of water and food for several days in the car with the fullest petrol tank (just over ½ full) and took off. It was 04:15, just 30 or so minutes after the quake. The road seemed ok but we took it easy. We turned the radio on and it was mute. After ca. 30 minutes we found an AM station broadcasting from San Martin de Los Andes in northern Patagonia, Argentina some 800 km away. Can someone explain how that works?? They were talking about a massive 8+ earthquake in Chile with the epicentre not far from home and a possible tsunami. We could only hope the wave would not hit Quintay (it didn’t). That was the first time I remembered the winery. We were not doing much talking so I had enough time from that moment on to imagine collapsed tanks, plus barrels and bottles flying all over the place.

We didn’t have enough petrol to drive to Quintay and return and all petrol stations on the road were closed or had no power. Suddenly we found a petrol station open on the opposite side of the highway. Next exit and return. There were ca 30 cars waiting before us. It took some 45 minutes to get our tank full. Cash only!! As we approached Santiago we started receiving more news broadcasted on the radio. I am so glad our dear president Mrs. Bachellet said there was no danger of a tsunami. We felt relieved while still driving to see the kids. We all know she was finally wrong. So many lives could have been saved. What happened to common sense? An 8,8 quake off the coast means high risk of a tsunami. Period. Nobody needs scientific data telling the opposite for that. Anyway….

We had to cross the southern part of Santiago and had already heard a bridge had collapsed. I had figured a few alternatives and with no hesitation exit the highway. Only a few km down the road a traffic jam. It was already 06:00 or 06:30 and still dark. I pull over and get off the car to see what was going on. Only 300m ahead an overpass had collapsed on the highway. There was only room for small cars under what used to be a bridge but no trucks or buses would fit. We did a little irresponsible off road detour, passed trucks and buses and went under the bridge. I know, very stupid…

About 1 hour later we managed to phone Quintay again. Everybody still fine. We were also able to call my wife’s parents and they were ok as well.

We arrived in Quintay by 09:00. After breakfast we started our journey back home. Basically the same way we had used before but just with much more traffic. By the time we arrived at the collapsed overpass we had passed before, the police had already closed it, and traffic got diverted somehow.

On the way back to Curico we started seeing more of the damage. We passed 6 or 7 wineries. All of them looked horrible. My oldest son kept saying: “Dad I smell wine again”. We arrived home 11 hours after having left. With daylight, we checked everything in the house and it seemed fine.

As per now, POLKURA uses for the most part a custom crush facility in Sagrada Familia near Curico. I went there with very little hope. Bakery, pharmacy and the old church in town were all leveled. As I got to the winery, the old mud brick house, were the offices are, was still standing but in very bad shape. The winery workers only suffered minor damage. The walls from the winery had fallen down and one could see the mess from the outside already. I enter and see several tanks laying on the floor and barrels piled like that wood stick game called Mikado. I went to the section were our barrels were stored and all I see is 16 out of 200 barrels still standing. All the rest on the floor or about to fall. Most bottles ok and our wine stored in tanks also ok.
I started counting ok or full barrels. First count: 60, second count 50, third count 90. As I was not getting anywhere with my statistics I decided to put as much bungs back as possible in order to close open barrels and go home. That was the first time I cried.

We also have some wine stored in a winery in Apalta in Colchagua. The next day I decided to see how they were doing. My smart wife suggested to take my bike with me, just in case. The road to Apalta was cut. After 5 km on the bike I had to get off. It was like riding on a glacier. 3m deep cracks that could not be avoided. Walking was safer. The winery was ok with very little damage. The owner had lost his house but his family was ok. They were all camping in the garden. Many wineries in Colchagua were not as lucky as they were.

I went to the hardware store that had opened Sunday evening to buy just about everything I could use to save wine. Pipes, hoses, fittings, etc. By then I had no idea what sort of equipment I would have available in the winery. That afternoon I finally could speak to Cristian, our vineyard manager. He said his house had collapsed but everybody was safe. The vineyard seemed fine and the irrigation system also. He was the only one that had suffered damage.

Monday morning we started with the cleaning up and sorting. It was a very slow process of picking barrel by barrel and lifting tank by tank. This is how it is done:

On Wednesday, my father and my brother joined to help us out. I am so thankful they did. They cleaned a lot of bottles, dried cardboard boxes, counted and kept us laughing during the day. By Thursday afternoon, power in Marchigue was back so we could irrigate again. We had all the barrels outside and they were ready to be topped, which we did with my partner Gonzalo. It was another three days of lifting barrels, pumping and filling. We were done on Sunday, almost 9 days after the quake. At the same time the owner of the winery managed to get most of the broken stainless steel tanks out and put some new ones in and return a few ones that were lightly damaged back in place.

The winery is ready for vintage 2010 now and all this will now just be a very bad memory for us.

In terms of losses, they were finally not as high as I originally feared. At the beginning I thought maybe 50% of the 2009 had been lost but finally we got it down to 25%. That is still a lot of wine but I am so happy we have that other 75% of 2009 and all of the 2008 to keep going. Our heart is with those who lost more than just a few litres of wine. Houses, jobs or a life….

For those that have supported us during the last week just a big THANKS. I hope I can make it up some day. We were lucky. Nothing happened to us really. The real pain is still out there and it will take a good time to recover, so in the meantime, just Drink Chilean wine!! Drink MOVI wine, Drink POLKURA!!

Day 1 : Saturday – 3:30 am Santiago

The windows rattled, the earth moaned then, Santiago shook hard. We grabbed the kids and rushed out of the house crashing against the walls unable to stand up during the quake. We spent the better part of two real minutes holding on to the door-frame and the kids. Then the electricity was gone.

My wife’s Chilean earthquake reflexes soon kicked in and we swiftly
filled the tub with water (now brown) found the torches/flashlights,
turned off the gas and cleaned up the broken glass. Afterward, I sat
outside in the car listening to the radio and realised Santiago hadn’t received the worst of it; Maule had. The epicentre was close to Cauquenes. We make an old-vine Carignan from there and have many friends in the business with old adobe cellars and homes. Then the hillside of San Cristobal behind our house slid and a dust cloud hung over the neighbourhood.

Power was restored the next morning. Highway overpasses and
clover-leaves down all around Santiago were the first images on the TV. Internet came back mid–morning and twitter connected me to others. The phones were useless.

7 is a big shake, but Santiago for the most part fast became a bubble of normality. On Saturday authorities asked people who were okay to stay at home. Having watched the first images of the roads on the news it was clear it wasn’t a good idea to go out in the car and be the first to discover the heaved pavement and/or a fallen overpass.

So we swam with the children in the neighbor’s pool. The pool was
substantially emptied by the quake. My three year old’s toes didn’t
touch the surface as he tried to dip his feet. Freezers had thawed in
the night without power so the menu was “Angus beef before it spoils”. All the while we knew friends were having a brutal time of it. Our little lunch party next the pool was odd and distorted. I guess we were trying to be normal for the children. The earth continued to shake in aftershocks. Our minds’ were in the Maule and Concepción with friends. No word from anyone down there. Authorities asked all to refrain from using the telephone unless absolutely necessary. We managed to e-mail dozens of friends and spoke to a few who’d heard from a few others.

At nightfall, doors were left open (so as not to jam in the event of).
The kids didn’t want to sleep.

Sunday – Day 2 Pirque — Alto Maipo

Yesterday Sunday I worked with the staff of William Fevre Chile, in
the Alto Maipo (where my small company makes its wines), saving
barrels one by one. If Saturday was odd, Sunday was surreal. The fumes of the propane forklift in the confined cellar made my head spin. There was no power no fan no ventilation, just more aftershocks– 3’s and 4’s now.

On route south there was little traffic and lots of big cracks in the
roads. Gas stations had lines for gas of 50-60 cars, and people were lined up everywhere to buy pan amasado (country bread) on the road-side. In Pirque approaching the bodega a corn silo leaned over like that tower in Pisa. Driving in one could smell the first waft of winery hundreds of metres from the cellar door. Most of the William Fevre staff had already spent Saturday cleaning up.

The first hand had arrived at dawn passing by the cellar on his
bicycle when he heard what he thought was water running. Two tanks were damaged (he would find another later) so he performed a modified Australian emptying from the leaking tank into an empty one with hose and gravity. When the two tanks evened out, half in half, then he changed the hoses again and saved half of the remaining half into yet another tank. Effectively he saved three quarters of not one but two tanks of Grand Cuvee 2008 before the sun had come up and without power. He’s twenty one and his name is Cristian. (The rest of Saturday was spent cleaning up broken tanks, moving the contents of the stainless with buckled legs and mopping up two more.)

Today, Sunday, it was time for the barrel room. Dozens of barrels had toppled down onto others breaking barrel heads and joints and with bungs popping all over.

With the help of two very skilled forklift drivers and a dozen
dedicated winery hands we started bringing the teetering barrels down to the ground and organising them by lot in the main reception area. Work went on and on for hours. We were making a dent and saving dozens of barriques. We were all on an adrenaline rush. At some point the air quality got worse but no one noticed. At one point I was so dizzy I walked outside into the breeze to see the managing director Gonzalo Pino storming up in his pickup with drinks and bread. Then we all sat around enjoying Bilz (awful Chilean cream soda) from the stemware from the tasting room. In this communion, and dead tired, we found our way to smiles and then humour– odd, yet cathartic.

Monday – Day 3 San Juan – Alto Maipo

Today I managed to get gas and am heading back out to Pirque. There is a lot more work to be done. An irrigation canal has been seriously damaged by a slide. We’ll be walking along the banks of the Maipo inspecting and clearing rocks out before it can be reopened.

We’ve heard from more people in the south. Many people are missing including several hands in Reserva de Caliboro. All over Chile more than 700 have died, mostly from the various Tsunamis, but many others under falling adobe bricks of old, country homes. It is a small number. Chile was very well prepared. Consider for a minute that this quake was the fifth biggest earthquake in recorded history.

On route news arrives from Viña Rukumilla, one of our partners in
MOVI, of the passing of José Pizarro their winery’s first-hand and
maestro extraordinaire since the building of the cellar. Suddenly I
must slow for a rather BIG bump between two sections of pavement on the 5 Sur.

What we lived through in Chile over the weekend was a very big bump. It cannot be measured in lost litres, nor by insurance adjusters, nor even by mister Richter himself. Hundreds of people living earnest and vibrant lives just days ago: preparing for harvest, vacationing on the seacoast, and doing so many other things, are no longer with us tonight. My humblest thoughts and prayers are with their families. I can only begin to imagine what all of them have have been through but, tomorrow, early, the Cristiáns and the Josés will be hard at work rebuilding– perhaps one of the most naturally spectacular countries on earth. A seismic country of quakes and volcanoes with crazy geography, far away, that most only know for its fruits and wines.

Chile will rebuild what mother nature broke this past Saturday. We’ll do it whilst we change governments and whilst Chilean soldiers continue to head up the mission in Haiti. We shall rebuild, where and what is necessary, industry by industry, town by town, roof by roof, and barrel by barrel. You can help us because Chile is a country of traders. They say we have more free trade agreements than any other nation on earth. Let’s see. Chilean products travel all over the world and most likely they are on the shelf just down the street from where you are now. What we need most right now is your business, so we can rebuild and yes, bounce back.

Febrero es un mes de vacaciones en Chile, de calor, no como el hemisferio norte que se esta congelando.. Sin embargo, hay algunas novedades interesantes para Clos Andino, la principal de ellas es la embotellacion de nuestro segundo vino y primer blanco, un Chardonnay de Casablanca 2009. El vino esta en la línea de Clos Andino, que es proponer vinos con un estilo franco-chileno, por lo tanto “LE” Chardonnay tiene todos los intensos aromas de esa noble variedad, con una boca redonda y equilibrada. Personalmente, diría que es un poco mas chileno que francés, no importa, no es un defecto! Quizás eso se debe al perfil de la cosecha en Casablanca en el 2009 (se cosecho a final de abril), que fue excelente para el chardonnay de Casablanca en todo caso.

El fenómeno MOVI rápidamente comienza a abrirse espacio. Está haciendo ruido. Y bastante. Los escritores de vino dedican páginas y páginas a las 16 viñas que pertenecen al Movimiento de Viñateros Independientes y califican al grupo como una bocanada de aire fresco para una industria gobernada casi sin contrapesos por los vinos de las grandes compañías. Jancis Robinson, en su website, destaca la importancia del movimiento en un país productor donde la concentración del capital alcanza niveles paranormales, ostentando el no muy decoroso record de mayor tamaño promedio por empresa vitivinícola. En este contexto, las viñas que vuelan con las incipientes alas de MOVI representan un panorama novedoso, refrescante y que permite reforzar con HECHOS el atributo de diversidad que pretende proyectar al mundo Wines of Chile. Los artículos, además de destacar el exitoso paso de los vinos de MOVI por la última edición del Wines of Chile Awards (Marina 2009 de Bravado Wines fue elegido el mejor Sauvignon Blanc de Chile), también pone en relieve los primeros problemas por los que atraviesa el movimiento, como fue el desvinculamiento del matrimonio de Constanza Schwaereder y Felipe García, padres de Marina, de las compañías donde ejercían como enólogos (Córpora y Casas del Bosque, respectivamente). Esta lamentable situación nos impone una interrogante: ¿es lícito que un enólogo pueda enfrentar proyectos personales cuando trabaja en otra compañía? Obviamente, las empresas tienen la libertad de aceptar o no esta doble militancia, pero la tendencia mundial no sólo apunta a convivir con ella, sino además a facilitarla. La premisa es que aumenta los niveles de autosatisfacción de los enólogos, los mantiene fieles a sus proyectos y ayuda a empujar y abrir nuevos canales para los vinos de la compañía. Y no hay que ir muy lejos para encontrarnos con un caso paradigmático. Se trata de Antiyal, el proyecto biodinámico de Álvaro Espinoza, quien no sólo asesora a un sinnúmero de viñas chilenas, sino que además ejerce como enólogo de Viñedos Emiliana, nada menos que la filial de la prolífica familia Concha y Toro. Son las bellas contradicciones de la aún joven, inmadura, pero always surprising vitivinicultura chilena.

http://www.brethauer.cl/?p=1605

Chile has by far the largest average winery size of any wine producing nation, and until recently capital was so very definitively in the hands of a small number of powerful families that remarkably few winemakers were able to set up on their own (Alvaro Espinoza was an early exception to this rule). To us visiting wine writers they seemed to be on a perpetual merry-go-round, moving from one big company employer to another, presumably graduating to a slightly higher salary each time. But things are changing in Chile. Last summer a small number of particularly committed small-scale wine producers banded together to gain some critical mass. Thus was MOVI, Movimiento de Viñateros Independientes, formed -  the Movement of Independent Vintners in English. MOVI members did pretty well in the Wines of Chile Awards 2010 that we announced here. See details below.

Its members claim to guarantee uncompromising quality and are apparently chosen only after extensive tasting. I am told by Derek Mossman Knapp of Garage Wines that the other requirements for membership of MOVI are that they should:

- be small and quality-oriented
- make wine personally, on a human scale
- craft wine to reflect a particular vision, beyond origin and terroir, which are givens (vision in most cases means previous experience in a Chilean winery)
- not be a Fortune 500 company, nor an economic group, and no patrons of convenience are allowed
- have no promotional or marketing people at tastings, just owners or winemakers who are intimately involved in production
- have patience and ‘the capacity for irreverence where required‘ (nicely put).

When a winery is accepted, it has to invite all other MOVI members to their winery. ‘MOVI members know other MOVIs personally, and also know and believe in each other’s wines’, I am assured.

MOVI’s 12 founding members (there are now more) have widely differing histories and come from more than half a dozen wine-making countries. ‘We are steadfast against homogeneity and insist Chile is anything but stock and standard. Give us some time!’  It is notable that many of them are taking advantage of the old-vine fruit available in up-and-coming Maule.

The current members of the Movement of Independent Vintners, MOVI, are:

Bravado Wines Winemakers Felipe García (ex Kendall Jackson and Casas del Bosque) and his wife Constanza Schwaderer (ex Veranda and Agustinos). Their first wine is Facundo (bronze award), a Bordeaux-style blend made with Carignan from Maule but they garnered even greater acclaim with their Marina Sauvignon Blanc from Casablanca in this year’s Wines of Chile Awards. Part financed and imported into the UK by Naked Wines.

Clos Andino A French/Chilean project based in Cachapoal specialising in Cabernet Sauvignon.

Erasmo/Reserva del Caliboro A Tuscan–Chilean joint venture with Count Francesco Marone making a Cabernet blend, also from Maule.

Flaherty Ed Flaherty made some celebrated wines under big company auspices in the 1990s, notably Viña Errázuriz, and is still chief winemaker at Tarapaca, but this is a tiny-production, family enterprise specialising in an Aconcagua blend of Cabernet and Syrah. Wines are imported into the UK by Boutique Wines of Chile in Amersham.

Garage Wine Co Canadian–Chilean project making a high-altitude (900 m) Cabernet in Alto Maipo and a dry-farmed old bushvine Carignan from south of Cauquenes. All the wines are hand made in small lots, usually in less than 5,000-bottle lots. Silver award.

Gillmore Andres Sanchez and his wife Daniella Gillmore make Cobre, a Cabernet blend, and Hacedor de Mundos, a blend of Cabernet Franc, Carignan, and Merlot. – all 100% dry-farmed in Maule. This winery won multiple awards at this year’s Wines of Chile fest. Available via www.laithwaites.co.uk

Hereu Odfjell winemaker Arnaud Hereu makes one wine, a Cabernet/Syrah/Carignan from Maule.

I-Latina San Pedro winemaker Irene Paiva and her family make a Syrah and Carmenère from Cachapoal.

Montsecano Photographer Julio Donoso and Andre Ostertag from Alsace are responsible for this biodynamic Pinot Noir from Casablanca.

Polkura Ex Santa Carolina winemaker Sven Bruchfeld (one of two Master of Wine students in Chile) is responsible for this Syrah-based project from the hillsides of Marchigue, the western end of the Colchagua Valley. The proprietors are the Bruchfeld and Muñoz families. Bronze award.  Available via  www.laithwaites.co.uk

Rukumilla Andres Costa and family make 4,000 bottles of an organic Cabernet/Syrah blend sold exclusively locally.

Sigla Cecilia Guzman, winemaker at Haras de Pirque; German Lyon, winemaker at Perez Cruz; Jose Pablo Martin, winemaker at Tamaya; and French ex-patriate winemaker Pierre Viala are responsible for this Cabernet/Syrah from Alto Maipo. UK importer is Boutique Vintners of Beaconsfield.

Tipaume Only 2,000 bottles of this organic Syrah/Cabernet blend are made by French winemaker Yves Pouzet, who owns this with his family.

Von Siebenthal A former Swiss lawyer who recently took up residence in Panquehue owns this outfit that makes various Carmenère, Petit verdot, etc blends in the Aconcagua Valley. Imported into the UK by New Generation Wines.

For more information on MOVI, including tasting notes on current wines and an interesting interview on the topic (including the news that two members have already been fired from their day jobs) and a description of how they have been received by the mainstream Chilean wine industry, see Alder Yarrow’s account here on vinography.com

Jancis Robinson

http://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/a201001242.html

If I were Hugh Johnson or Jancis Robinson, I could clear my throat and begin my story with a distinguished pronouncement about how I’ve watched several wine regions around the globe evolve from their infancy to later stages of maturity. But I lack the perspective of someone who’s been a professional observer of the industry for decades. While I may not be able to tell you how, exactly, I do know that wine regions evolve over the course of their history, and that Chile finds itself in a particular stage of evolution that most regions probably encounter after a few decades of solid growth.

Chile has recently entered the age of the garagiste winemaker. For those unfamiliar with the term, it originated in the Bordeaux region of France in the mid-1990’s, where at the time it was a slightly derogatory term for winemakers who usually purchased grapes from other growers and made small lots of wines in equally small production facilities, which, in some cases, were garages. These upstart winemakers were controversial at the time, not only for breaking out from the traditional chateau model of winemaking (i.e. ownership of vineyards and making wine from a very specific place) but for styling their wines more towards the emerging California style of rich, ripe reds.

These days, garagiste can refer to any small winery operation, whether it be someone who has made the transition from being a hobbyist to selling their wine commercially, or more commonly, a well established winemaker who, in addition to their day job making wine for someone else, may be making a few thousand cases of wine under their own label.

For the most part garagiste has lost any negative connotation it might have once had, and in places like California, such wine operations have become more than commonplace, fueling a whole industry of custom crush facilities that exist to help such people make their wines. That doesn’t mean, however, that some who adopt the moniker, or merely resemble it, don’t still struggle for acceptance and visibility in their wine industry, wherever that may be.

Which brings me to a recently formed group in Chile called MOVI: Movimiento de Viñateros Independientes (Movement of Independent Vintners). Established on the first of June, 2009 through the launch of their website and a public constitution of their purpose, this group has staked out a position outside the conventions of the modern Chilean wine industry. But in addition to their philosophical stance as smaller, independent wineries in an industry dominated by big players, they also represent the beginnings of a natural diversification that was likely inevitable in Chile’s wine industry.

While small winemaking projects have occurred before in Chile (indeed some of the bigger players in the industry began that way) there have never been a significant number of smaller wineries, and especially few that owned no vineyards themselves. Likewise, few Chilean winemakers have struck out on their own and created their own labels. Indeed, this is not only uncommon, it is seen as threatening by some in the mainstream Chilean wine industry. At least two of the founding members of MOVI have been fired from their jobs as winemakers for larger wineries for their participation in the group, and several more have gotten somewhat cold receptions to the news.

While some in the Chilean wine industry have welcomed, or at least made peace with the existence of MOVI, the fact that even a few might see the desire of a talented winemaker to make their own wines as a threat seems particularly backward. Especially when all over the world there are plenty of examples pointing to the value of letting winemakers do their own thing. Not only does it keep the winemakers happy (and less likely to be looking elsewhere for work) their success with their own projects often brings attention (and sales) to their employer’s wines. Of course, there will be examples of superstars whose success will allow them to leave their employers and work only for themselves, but that’s just the way things go with capitalism.

MOVI, above all, represents the maturing of the Chilean wine industry. While I’m not sure that a movement or an association was wholly necessary, certainly the diversification and experimentation that MOVI represents is very necessary to the evolution of Chilean wine.

I first heard about MOVI from importer Joe Dressner, who suggested I look them up on my trip to Chile, and not 48 hours later I was sitting in the hotel lounge with Max Morales, who runs the popular and comprehensive site AndesWines.Com and he brought them up in the course of our conversation about the current state of the wine industry, and mentioned that he knew them. Five days later, about two dozen bottles showed up at the hotel, and the last thing I did before I left the country was taste through all the wines.

But before we get to the tasting notes, the folks at MOVI were kind enough to answer some of my questions by e-mail, via Derek J. Mossman Knapp, who owns and runs Garage Wine Company, and holds the title of Director of MOVI.

Vinography: Can anyone be a member of MOVI?

MOVI: Movi wants to embrace, not exclude, independent projects. Lord knows we are all very small, and the Goliaths of the Chilean wine business are very, very large. It is a tall order to convince the world we exist, let alone be found on the shelf and find our way to the dinner table in our industry. We need to get to a critical mass if we pretend to create some gravity with consumers.

Vinography: What makes a winery suitable for membership?

MOVI:
Wineries that are:
- small, quality-oriented
- make wine personally, on a human scale.
- craft wine to reflect a particular vision, beyond origin and terroir (which are a given)
- not Fortune 500 companies, not economic groups, and not patrons of convenience.

At our pourings there are no ‘promotoras’ (read: smiling Barbie-like-bimbos). The owner-maker pours. Above all the owner must have a quintessential passion for the endeavors of growing grapes and crafting fine wine.

To apply for membership a winery must meet the above criteria and send samples that are then tasted by the directors of our organization. Upon entry to the group, each project extends an invitation to receive all of the members at their winery, as a gesture towards cementing themselves into the group. Movis know Movis personally, and we also know and believe in each other’s wines.

Movi’s twelve founding members (we are now 16) stem from widely differing histories and more than a half-dozen wine-making countries. We are steadfast against homogeneity and insist Chile is anything but stock and standard. Give us some time!

Vinography: What has been the reaction to the creation of MOVI in Chile?

MOVI: Movi launched at an annual wine event at the W Hotel and briskly became a sensation. We didn’t do anything so radically different. The idea that wineries could crank up some good tunes, show pictures of their families helping in the bodega (perhaps the photos of our dogs eating grapes was a little over-the-top), share pouring tables, help each other, and get people tattooing the Movi logo on their arm did, however, cause a stir. That tasting was the first time that the public could find many of the wines. Long story short: the restaurants, hotels and sommeliers had a chance to try all of the Movi wines and this was terrific for the lesser known projects in the group. Several hotels and restaurants now have a section of their wine lists devoted to Movi.

Afterwards, Movi was the darling of the Chilean wine press for a stretch, but Movi intentions are long-term and much more profound than the Chilean press let on. They tried to re-coin us as Vinos de Autor and a rather fresh Brazilian tried to ride our shirt-tails naming his distribution company “the association of chilean boutique wineries” or some such nonsense but he is all wet. Movi is the one and only. We are here to stay and we are only just beginning.

The press also reported about two winemakers being fired for being members of the group, amongst other minor scrapes. Movi is not out to play victim nor to create a schism in the wine trade. Movi aims to complement the works of the big trade and trade marketing associations like Wines of Chile, with everything we have: quality, personality, diversity, and that much needed dose of irreverence to complement the consumer’s appreciation of Chile. We want the world to know Chilean wine does not come from mega projects alone. The industry needs smaller projects and we Movis are patient people — otherwise, what would we be doing in wine.

Vinography: Why did the Chilean wine industry need MOVI right now?

MOVI: Movi is a breath of fresh air in a healthy but comfortable and conservative industry known for blue blazers, grey flannels, incessant profit, and industry concentration. That is not the whole truth about Chilean wine and we are here to prove it.

Movi will contribute positively to the Chilean wine trade and most of all, complement existing projects and missions with our own personal signatures and our energy keenly focused, albeit sometimes irreverently, on what consumers want: quality, diversity and personality.

The Chilean wine press, in particular, needs needs a push — some impetus to dedicate more space towards opening up wine to new wine drinkers. They need to take the stuffiness out with the trash. Chile needs to tell more stories. Movis make for great stories.

Vinography: What is MOVI hoping to accomplish?

MOVI: Simple. We want a space on your table. (Well, not your table precisely, Alder, since you probably receive free samples, but definitely your neighbors’ tables). We want people to open their minds about Chile. Investigate Chilean wine on the Internet. Read blogs, follow tweets, and find the whole Chile — including the mavericks amongst the saints. And once in their lifetime, everyone should all come and see us on their airline miles.

Vinography: Are MOVI members’ wines different from other wines produced in Chile? If so, why?

MOVI: Movi does not pretend to have any exclusive taste. That would be arrogant and fallacious. And there is certainly no uniformity whatsoever amongst the wines of Movi. Generally speaking, Movi wines surprise– but only because people have not tried enough Chilean wine.

Are they less commercial? Perhaps. Is this because these are wines created by a person and for personal reasons and that person only found a market for them afterward? Perhaps. Are they generally well-rounded yet not in a manipulated way? Perhaps. The jury is out. You tell us. Ever so slowly people are taking interest. The consumer will have the last word.

* * *

And so now, the tasting notes. It’s worth noting that the staff at the W Hotel in Santiago did a particularly lousy job keeping track of the wines that were left for tasting, and we (myself and my two fellow journalists on the trip) suspect that some of the wines may never have made it to us. But here’s what we did receive and taste through before we jumped on a plane back to the United States. Many thanks again to Max Morales and Andes Wine for making it happen.

POLKURA
Winemaker Sven Bruchfeld started this small Syrah project in 2002. After a career making wine for other people he says, “It may sound cliché but I wanted to make my own wine, walk my own vineyard, see it grow and make a living from all of that.” Pokura means “yellow stone” in the native Mapuche language and references the yellow granite found in the Marchigue region of the Colchagua Valley where the wine comes from. Bruchfeld also makes a Sauvignon Blanc called Aylin from the Leyda region of the San Antonio Valley. Between the three wines (Aylin + the two syrahs) Polkura makes about 5000 cases annually. The wines are imported by Wine Markets International in New York.

2009 Aylin Sauvignon Blanc, Leyda, San Antonio Valley, Chile
Pale blond in the glass, this wine has a nose of warm hay, citrus zest, and fresh apples. In the mouth the wine is brisk with citrus and apple and pear flavors that linger in the finish. Good acidity, but some slight heat on the finish makes the wine end awkwardly. Score: between 8 and 8.5. Cost: $14.

2007 Polkura “Block G1″ Syrah, Marchigue, Colchagua Valley, Chile
Inky garnet in color, this wine has a nose of blackberry and cassis, with hints of blueberry. In the mouth it is rich, broad and beautifully textured, with velvety tannins, and flavors of blackberry, blueberry, and cassis that linger in a long finish. Unfiltered as far as I can tell. Lovely, if a bit brawny. Score: around 9. Cost: $40.

2007 Polkura Syrah Marchigue, Colchagua Valley, Chile
Dark garnet in color, this wine smells of black cherry and cedar, with hints of blackberry. In the mouth it offers cassis and blackberry flavors with an underlying earthiness and leathery flavor which is echoed in the texture of the tannins. Moderate finish. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $22

FLAHERTY
Winemaker Ed Flaherty spends his days working at Viña Tarapaca, but at night he comes home to a front yard full of Tempranillo and his wife Jennifer Hoover, who sometimes he may find in their carriage punching down their latest creation. While they are a commercial operation (just barely — selling their 500 case annual production in Brazil and Chile) Flaherty Wines started when their home winemaking experiments turned serious in 2004. In addition to the fruit they can harvest from their front yard, they buy Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon from the Manzur vineyard in the Aconcagua Valley.

2006 Flaherty Red Wine, Aconcagua Valley, Chile
Dark garnet in color, this wine has a nose of barnyard, cedar, and dried cherries. In the mouth it offers dried cherry fruit, light tannins and a dirt and leather sort of flavor as the wine finishes. Score: between 7 and 7.5. Cost: $25

GARAGE WINE CO.
An unusual project that literally did start in a garage, Garage Wine Co. is the product of winemaker Pilar Miranda, cellar chief Derek Mossman, and co-owner Dr. Alvaro Peña. Miranda’s day job is as a flavoring consultant to the cocktail industry, Mossman spent more than a decade in marketing for Chilean wineries, and Peña is a research scientist focused on anti-oxidants and the effects of oak on wine. Initiated by Mossman as a “kind of personal anti-dote to the disappointment of working with Chilean marketing.” 20% of each vintage is pre-sold as futures to folks who then get a chance to come help out in the cellar. The wines are made almost entirely naturally, and fermented in oak. The grapes come from long-term contracts with growers, and include enough fruit for about 400 cases of wine. The wines are not yet imported to the United States.

2008 Garage Wine Co. “#18″ Cabernet Carignan, Chile
Dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of gamey meat, huckleberries, and cassis. In the mouth it offers huckleberry, cassis, and cedar flavors with lightly bitter, faint tannins that linger into the finish. Score: around 7.5. Cost: $25.
VINA VON SIEBENTHAL
Located basically just across the street from Errazuriz in the Aconcagua Valley, Viña von Siebenthal was started in 1998 by Mauro on Siebenthal, a swiss lawyer who left a 25-year career to start a winery. The first vintage was 2002, from the estates 60 acres of vineyards. Winemaker Stefano Gandolini, who also makes the Viña Carmen wine (across the street at Errazuriz), makes the roughly 12,000 cases of production, split across six different red wines. Imported by Vindino Wines in San Diego, Puerto Viejo Wines in Florida, and JC Imports in Rhode Island.

2007 Viña von Siebenthal Carmenere Reserva, Aconcagua Valley, Chile
Medium to dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of cherries and camphor wood. In the mouth it is lean and taut with cherry, cedar, and oiled leather flavors. Moderate leathery tannins emerge on the surprisingly long finish. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $19.

2005 Viña von Siebenthal “Monthelig” Red Wine, Aconcagua Valley, Chile
Dark garnet in color, this wine has a nose of wet earth, sweet cassis, and aromatic cedar. In the mouth it is intense, with cherry, cedar, tobacco, and high-toned notes of berries and a very long finish that I can best describe as a long dusty road. Excellent. Score: around 9. Cost: $55.

2006 Viña von Siebenthal “Toknar” Red Wine, Aconcagua Valley, Chile
Dark garnet in the glass, this wine has a perfumed nose of sweet cherries, flowers, and raspberry aromas. In the mouth the wine is beautifully composed with bright cherry and raspberry fruit, supple tannins and bright acidity, and a long lingering finish that sweeps in notes of vanilla and sour cherry. Really lovely. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $115.
CLOS ANDINO
Started in 2007 as a personal project by José Luis Martin-Boquillard, Clos Andino produces about 1000 cases of wine, starting with its inaugural vintage of 2006 Cabernet. Martin-Boquillard spent nearly 20 years working as a winemaker for “big conglomerates” before leaving that all behind to focus on Clos Andino. The wine is not yet imported to the United States.

2006 Clos Andino “Le Cabernet Sauvignon” Reserva, Chile
Medium to dark garnet in the glass, this wine has a nose of sweet stewed cherries and chocolate aromas. In the mouth it offers sawdust, dried cherries, and lightly floral flavors with a long finish. Lacks some freshness that would make it a better wine. Score: between 8 and 8.5. Cost: $ not given.
GILLMORE
Gillmore is now in its second generation of ownership as a small family-run winery. Owner and patriarch Francisco Gillmore made his first vintage of Cabernet Franc in 1993, but since 2001 his daughter Daniele Gillmore and her husband, winemaker Andres Sanchez have been shaping the raw materials provided by Gillmore into something truly tremendous. Those raw materials include family vineyards of dry-farmed 20+ year-old vines in the Valley of Loncomilla. Sanchez is a talented winemaker and consultant, whose career has included and continues to include much international work in places like Tuscany and India. The winery produces a miniscule 2000 cases annually, of which a small amount is imported by Schneider Selections.

2006 Gillmore Carignane Riserva, Loncomilla Valley, Maule, Chile
Medium to dark garnet in color, this wine smells beautifully of violets, mulberries and blueberries. In the mouth it is juicy and bright with wonderful fruit flavors of mulberry, blueberry, and raspberry. Lightly grippy tannins emerge on the finish which is long and, again, gorgeously lush with fruit. Great balance and exquisitely juicy acidity makes this wine a fantastic pleasure to drink. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $28.

2003 Gillmore “Cobre” Gran Reserva, Loncomilla Valley, Maule, Chile
Medium to dark garnet in the glass, this wine has a gorgeous nose of cherry and cola and cedar. In the mouth it offers restrained but darkly complex flavors of cherries, tobacco, and wet wood. Perfectly balanced with excellent acidity and a nice dark earthiness that lingers along with floral qualities into a long finish. 13.8% alcohol. Outstanding. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $28.

2006 Gillmore Cabernet Franc Reserva, Loncomilla Valley, Maule, Chile
Dark garnet in color, this wine has a nose of cherry, leather, and hints of raspberry. In the mouth it has grippy, leathery tannins with cherry and wet earth flavors but not as much dynamism as it should. Good acidity and long finish with a touch of alcoholic heat. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $28.

2006 Gillmore Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva, Loncomilla Valley, Maule, Chile
Dark garnet in the glass, this wine has a very nice nose of ripe cherry and black cherry fruit with notes of pencil shavings. In the mouth it is expansive and bright with nice acidity and fine grained tannins that support a core of cherry, black cherry, and wet earth flavors. Refined and juicy, this is a very tasty wine. Score: around 9. Cost: $28.
CALIBORO
Francisco Marone Cinzano is better known in Tuscany than in Chile. There he owns the famous Col d’Orcia winery in Montalcino. In the early 1990’s he decided to begin work on a project in Chile because of the potential he saw there. The winery produces a single wine, made by consultant winemaker Maurizio Castelli (who consults on projects in California and Italy), from a single vineyard planted in 1998. This dry-farmed vineyard in the Maule Valley has a mix of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc that we’re specifically imported from Europe for the project. About 8000 cases of a single wine, Erasmo, are produced each year, some of which are imported to the US by Palm Bay Imports.

2006 Erasmo Red Wine, Maule Valley, Chile
Medium garnet in color this wine has a nose of mixed fresh herbs, fennel seeds, and dried cherries. In the mouth it is bright and unusual in flavor with a mix of leather, cedar, sour cherry, and raspberry flavors. Good acidity balances very grippy sandpaper tannins and moderate finish. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $30.

2005 Erasmo Red Wine, Maule Valley, Chile
Medium garnet in the glass, this wine has a nose of black cherry and cedar aromas. In the mouth it offers sour black cherry, wet earth, cedar, and hints of licorice on the finish. Fine grained but aggressive tannins emerge as the wine finishes. With a few years this will mellow and be even better. Score: around 9. Cost: $30.
Posted by: Alder on January 23, 2010 11:37 PM