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Maule is a land locked in time. Tucked into the VII re-gion of Chile, it is 5 hours from the capital - Santia-go - and feels at least 50 years away from today. Horses
not only plough vineyards, but they are a main source of
transport for country folk, as well as large road- battered
and dirt-splattered pick up trucks. The villages and smaller
towns are groups of pink-washed mud brick houses with
quaint and sleepy plazas and the occasional church still
standing proud after many, many powerful earthquakes.
The biggest city is Talca - an agricultural capital best known
for its produce market selling artisanal crafts and food
stuffs.
Locals still giggle at their parochial saying, ‘Talca, Paris,
London’, which became the neighbourhood joke since a
local hat maker tried to aggrandise his business by false-
ly stating he had shops in each capital. While Talca is a
far cry from any cosmopolitan city like London or Paris,
the phrase almost perfectly sums up the locals’ tongue-
in-cheek humour and undeniable affection for their own
country capital and way of life.
As with most of Chile’s wine regions, Maule is framed by
the coast on the West and the mountain s to the East. The
vigorous Humbolt current creates large swells and the
coastline is rugged and untamed. Moving inland are the
middle valleys with small hillsides, fruit plantations and
many old vineyards. The long Maule river snakes through
the valley offering a handful of water sports and a lifeline
to all the growers. Forests and lakes sit somewhere in-be-
tween guarding old legends and legacies of the native
tribes, and up to the Andes mountains the horizon chang-
es to volcanos and snowcapped mountains where the Al-
tos del Lircay national park is alongside a handful of ski
resorts and hot springs.
Maule is wild, largely undiscovered, and rich with culture
and histormany old vineyards. The long Maule river snakes
through the valley offering a handful of water sports and a
lifeline to all the g rowers. Forests and lakes sit somewhere
in-between guarding old legends and legacies of the na-
tive tribes, and up to the Andes mountains the horizon
changes to volcanos and snowcapped mountains where
the Altos del Lircay national park is alongside a handful of
ski resorts and hot springs. many old vineyards. The long
Maule river snakes through the valley offering a handful of
water sports and a lifeline to all the growers.
Forests and lakes sit somewhere in-between guarding old
legends and legacies of the native tribes, and up to the
Andes mountains the horizon changes.
C H I L E
4.2 millionHectolitres/ year
M A U L
E
C H I L E T O
T A L
MAULE =50,574 hectares
2016
Mediterranean Climate
Sub regions Loncomilla
Cauquenes Tutuvén
Summer avg. 25º C
8º C 6 mm Total rain 735 mm/year
Winter avg. 8º C
1º C 110 mm
Harvest March - May
35.4º Latitude
Soil Profiles
GRANITE CLAY LOAM
170 producers5,390 vineyards
$24 USDArg. priceper bottleof VIGNO
12.8 millionhectolitres/
year6th largestproducer in
the worldMain Varieties
23% 19% 18% 11% 10% 7% 7% 8% P a i s
C a b e r n e t S a u v i g n o n
C a r m e n e r e
M e r l o t
S a u v i g n o n B l a n c
C a r i g n a n
C h a r d o n n a y
O t h e r s
40-100YRS Age of vines
0 1600s
Viticulture History
28 %
23
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THE VINES & WINES:
Although it might not be the best known, Maule is one
of the biggest wine producing regions in Chile. Its great
diversity of varieties often don’t even get a mention on
the wine label as traditionally this has been the heartland
of anonymous wines sold as bulk or table plonk. VIGNO
(Vignadores de Carignan) is a movement that has helped
change that - putting Maule on the map.
With 17 member wineries or producers, making one VIG-
NO wine each, enthusiasts claim that VIGNO is the first
real appellation of Chile, and there may well be reason to
their rhyme as the rules of VIGNO are very similar in spec-
ificity to those of a traditional European ap pellation: a min-
imum of 65% Carignan (only to be blended with other red
old-vine varieties from Maule); using vines over 30 years
old (or grafted onto old rootstock); vineyards must be dry
farmed; and wines must be aged over 2 years before sale.
The characteristics of VIGNO show you exactly what is
special about Maule. Maule has beautiful old vineyards of
varieties such as Carignan and Pais, whose root systems
are so deep that many of the vineyards (known as Secano)
can be completely dry farmed (with no additional irriga-
tion beyond the rain). This is quite unique in the viticulture
world, and is a real gem in Chile where many of most
famous wine regions are pioneering new regions barely
in their teens.
So what does the wine taste like? Well, with 17 different
wines in VIGNO there is of course some diversity with-
in producer styles. Although there is a family line in VIG-
Food Pairings
CARIGNAN 9º-13ºCALC% 12-14
What was Sonoma like when you first came here?
In 1979 Sonoma was a sleepier place. Napa had all the sizzle because
of this rush to Cab, and the marketing genius of Mondavi and col-
laborative cohesion of Robert Parker gave it this great cache. When I
first came here I liked the idea of Sonoma that was very agricultural,
genuine, laid-back and chill. There’s not a lot of high octane stuff. Napa
seemed liked one great retail mall.
You were very instrumental in getting the Moon Mountain AVA.
Why is it i mportant to differentiate?
It was really important to me because what I do in terms of farming
and to produce these wines should not be associated with those in
Sonoma Valley that just do the status quo. That was not acceptable
to me. I am only interested in the highest end you can get from my
vineyards. I used to want to make the best wine in the world, then
the best wine in California. Now I want to make the best wine from
my vineyard.
You live on your vineyard, are you hands on in the process?
I hate leaving. There are whole days that I don’t leave the vineyard. I
do martial arts on the porch in the morning, then I write all day, then
I go to the winery and cycle to the tasting room [in Sonoma] to visit
everybody. I am involved in all the decisions and the blending. I am
tasting out of the barrels all the time. I am around the process but
don’t influence the process in the least.
Where does the magic happen?
The vineyard is where the magic happens. The winery is where the
winemakers try not to fuck up the magic. You’re working on the newjudgement of Paris film based on Steven Spurrier’s life. Apart from
that, would you say wine inspires many of your movies?
Can any part of your life so big, like your vineyard, really be that
separate from your writing?
In my screen writing I live in the world of imagination. Growing grapes
is diametrically the opposite! Everything is very concrete. There’s
nothing you can make up or invent in a vineyard…
Tell us about the 1996 fire.
I made a movie and I burned the vineyard down [A Walk in the Clouds].
Then 2 years later my own vineyard burned down… It destroyed the
whole vineyard. Moon Mountain lost 70% of their fruit. When we
went to collect from Pacific Gas [the fire was caused by their power
line] they didn’t care till I hired a lawyer who had beaten them before
and then they wanted to settle.
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TRAVEL GUIDEHOW TO GET THERE
Maule is a 5 hour journey from Santiago, Chile, by road. You can easily hire
a car and the journey is quite direct straight down the Ruta 5, although the
wine routes require a bit more patience and good GPS. Alternatively catch
a bus to Talca, and a taxi from there to your final destination. To reach
Santiago, United Airlines offer flights from major US airports. Santiago is
a 16 hour flight from London, 10 hours from New York, and 5 hours from
Sao Paulo. www.united.com
WHERE TO STAY
If you are looking for vineyard accommodation, try www.tabonko.clat
Gillmore winery, or the private guesthouse at J Bouchon www.bouchonfam-
ilywines.com For a stay in central Talca, try the Eco Hotel www.ecohotel.
cl or the casino chain hotel www.hotelcasinotalca.cl. If you are looking for
vineyard accommodation, try www.tabonko.clat Gillmore winery, or theprivate guesthouse at J Bouchon www.bouchonfamilywines.com For a stay
in central Talca, try the Eco Hotel www.ecohotel.cl or the casino chain
hotel www.hotelcasinotalca.cl
WHERE TO EAT
Maule is filled with low key, locals eateries but if you want a bit of haute
cuisine Cocina y Gastronomia en San Bonifacio in Chanco and Terra Costa
in Constitucion are top picks. Maule is filled with low key, locals eateries
but if you want a bit of haute cuisine Cocina y Gastronomia en San Bonifa-
cio in Chanco and Terra Costa in Constitucion are top picks.
BUDGET PLANNING
On a low budget, $60 - 80 a day. On a top budget, $150-200 a day per
couple.
On a low budget, $60 - 80 a day. On a top budget, $150-200 a day per
couple
.
Matt Wilson is a British photographer who moved to Chile’s wine regions
after marrying his wife, a Chilean winemaker ten years ago. With a
background in skateboarding and music photography, he always brings a
lively dimension to wine photography and his personal philosophy is that
“no wine photo should ever have a glass of wine in it!”
www.mattwilson.cl Photos_in_Chile matt.wilson_gc
Through the lens ofFeatured photographer: Matt Wilson
NO, and that is the old vine Carignan.
Almost all the wines are made from
grapes purchased from very small
producers around Maule, small to the
extent whereby they may count their
land by number of vines owned rather
than hectares.
More text here. So what does the
wine taste like? Well, with 17 differ-
ent wines in VIGNO there is of course
some diversity within producer styles.
Although there is a family line in VIG-
NO, and that is the old vine Carignan.
Almost all the wines are made from
grapes purchased from very small
producers around Maule, small to the
extent whereby they may count their
land by number of vines owned rather
than hectares.
Although there is a family line in VIG-
NO, and that is the old vine Carignan.
Almost all the wines are made from
grapes purchased from very small
producers around Maule, small to the
extent whereby they may count their
land by number of vines owned rather
than hectares.