The Grapevine: Chile’s Cono Sur makes a name for itself with pinot and whites

By Laurie Daniel

When most consumers think of Chilean wine, they’re probably not picturing bottles of pinot noir, viognier and gewürztraminer. But in a land better known for cabernet sauvignon and merlot, pinot noir and aromatic whites are what Cono Sur does best.

Cono Sur Winery takes its name from the shape of South America, the “southern cone.”

The winery is part of the giant Concha y Toro group and was founded in 1993 to create innovative wines, with a focus on export markets. Its home base in the Colchagua Valley, about 80 miles south of Santiago, is probably best suited to the usual cab, merlot and carménère, so the winery draws from 2,200 acres of estate vineyards in a variety of growing areas with differing soils and climates. Winemaker Adolfo Hurtado says he’s aiming for a style of wine that’s fresh and elegant.

A learning curve

In 1996, Cono Sur started producing pinot noir. Hurtado, who at the time was more accustomed to making reds like cab, admits that “I had no idea how to vinify pinot noir,” a grape that requires more delicate handling. Consequently, he says, “the pinot noir was a disaster” for the first few vintages. In 1999, the winery hired a consultant from Burgundy, Martin Prieur of Domaine Jacques Prieur, who has greatly improved the pinots.

The vineyard in Chimbarongo includes Chile’s oldest pinot noir vines, planted in 1966, according to Hurtado. The area is really too warm for top-notch pinot, so the winery has planted pinot — including a lot of the Dijon clones that have become so popular in California — in cooler areas. By the end of 2008, Hurtado says, Cono Sur will have about 1,200 acres of pinot noir planted. The winery is already the largest producer of pinot noir in South America and one of the largest in the world.

Cono Sur’s entry-level pinot represents a decent value, although I think it could be a little more expressive. The 2007 Cono Sur “Vision” Pinot Noir ($15) is a touch earthy, with raspberry and cherry fruit. Quality increases with the more expensive tiers, but the wines are likely to be hard to find because they’re made in much smaller quantities. The 2006 “20 Barrels” ($25) has more weight, with rich raspberry and rhubarb fruit, while the 2006 “Ocio” ($50) is very good, with rich, ripe raspberry and cherry fruit and a long finish. There’s still room for improvement, but clearly Cono Sur is a winery that pinot lovers should watch.

White wines

For me, Cono Sur’s most exciting wines are its aromatic whites. Cono Sur was the first Chilean winery to produce viognier, and the 2007 “Vision” Viognier ($15) is a great value, a floral, elegant wine with white peach and mineral flavors and a racy core of acidity. Hurtado also makes an exemplary gewürztraminer; the 2007 “Vision” Gewürztraminer ($15) is fleshy and bright, with the typical aromas and flavors of lychee, rose petals and spice.

A number of Chilean wineries do a good job with sauvignon blanc, including Cono Sur. The 2007 “Vision” Sauvignon Blanc ($15) is fresh and crisp, with melon and citrus flavors and a hint of grassiness. The 2007 “20 Barrels” Sauvignon Blanc ($20) is even more vivid, with citrus and honeydew flavors and a long finish. (The 2007 20 Barrels won’t be available for a few months.)

As for its other wines, Cono Sur has several good chardonnays, all of which are made in a bright, fresh style. The nonpinot reds are solid values, though not terribly exciting. One of the better choices is the 2006 Carménère ($10), which offers ripe black cherry flavors accented by a note of cracked pepper.

Other innovations

Another area of innovation for Cono Sur is in its environmental programs. In 1998, Hurtado started working at Chimbarongo with integrated pest management, a system that emphasizes natural remedies for controlling pests and diseases. For example, visitors to the estate see a pen teeming with geese, which are used to help eradicate vineyard insects. Organic cultivation of 100 acres at Chimbarongo followed, and in 2003 the winery produced its first wine made from grapes that were certified organic.

More recently, Cono Sur was certified as having “carbon neutral delivery status” — to balance the carbon emissions from shipping its wines, the company supports “offset” projects around the world, mostly focused on renewable energy.

Laurie Daniel writes a weekly column on wine. E-mail her at ladaniel@earthlink.net.