The price of wine is always a sticking point. People often ask why certain wine cost so much whereas other seeming just as tasty ones could cost so much less. As always, the devil is in the details. Let’s take two examples. How about Chablis and Chile?
The maintenance and managing of the two areas, a Chablis Grand Cru vineyard and an inexpensive Central Valley Chilean Chardonnay planting, are rather different. Although both are sought-after but for rather different reasons. Chablis because its rarity and exceptional quality whereas the Chilean Chardonnay for reasonable price and approachable, easy-drinking style and consistent good quality. The two commands very different prices.
A Chablis Grand Cru is a very much delineated area which can only produce a relatively small amount of wine for a very high price point. The seven Grand Cru climats have a yield of around 40hl wine/hectare. It just across from the city of Chablis, on the Serein river. Those steep, south-west facing Kimmerigean clay mid- slopes cover just over 105 ha of land, that has not been extended over the years significantly. Couple of hectares up and down, depending on replanting’s. The climate is continental, but very much on the north fringes of grape growing. Fairly hot summers and long and hard winters give climatic uncertainty to this region and that can strongly determine the quality and amount of the crop. The area is prone to early frosts, Chardonnay is early-budding, frost can be very late and severe here like in the last couple of years, when wine growers were struggling to keep their vineyards alive, by burning smudge pots, using sprinklers, helicopters and whatever means they could. The growers are trying to protect their vineyards against early frost by using trellising closer to the ground and using (Double Guyot) pruning system. These factors add to the already higher costs of production. The cost of labour is much higher in France anyway and high prestige vineyards are more likely to use a high percentage of skilled labourers to get a better-quality result. They bound to do it for topographic reasons as well as Grand Cru vineyards can be found on steep mid-slopes and machine would damage the grapes. The exceptional grape quality and demand means a bigger financial strain to keep the vineyard in tip-top conditions, continuously shifting the failed, frost damaged or dead plants. Although top quality, well-established growers can possibly survive a year or two if there is a lack of revenue, but it is their best interest to keep their vineyards healthy and well-maintained. Vines here are grafted to be able to withstand phylloxera, again adding to the costs. They need more protection against pests like rabbits and need more looking after until they are properly established. They are more prone to diseases, like rot and mildew and sprayed more frequently to be able to have a healthy crop at the end of the growing season.
On the other hand, Central Valley is a rather bigger area, that consists of four bigger traverse valleys (Maipo, Rapel, Curico, Maule) between the Costal Range and the Andes on a 1000 km long plateau. The regions divided following administrative areas rather than terroir, but it is slowly being changed. This area gives the bulk of the wine produced in Chile. It has a Mediterranean climate with warm dry summers, low rainfall (300-800mm) which comes through the winter. The temperatures are much more even, thanks to the cooling air coming down from the Andes and the Humboldt current that cools the region as well. The area is well-irrigated thanks to the melting snow-caps of the Andes which supplies rivers and canals all over the region. The soil is very much fertile, alluvial. The vines are not grafted, as the whole of Chile is free from phylloxera. Yes, we are in plant paradise here with near ideal conditions. Although the country is not free from all pests and diseases it is considered to be a heaven for grape growing, no wonder that area under vine has been constantly extended over the last couple of decades. One of their biggest problem is nematodes and they can use nematodes resistant rootstocks to fight the disease. The plantations are mostly on flat, fertile, irrigated lands with widely spaced, higher trained vines that can allow mechanisation which can bring prices down. Although, over-irrigation and high yield can cause difficulties to get a fully ripen crop. The plantations have a higher average yield around 70 hl/hectare. Chile is a predominantly red wine producing country, but Chardonnay is mostly planted in Maipo Valley, the most famous region just south of the capital Santiago, and it covers over 10.000 ha of land. The Maipo River itself slightly salty which can be toxic to plants and the soil lacks potassium. Less disease helps to use less spraying and the conditions aid to have a healthy crop.
The two regions may share similarities but their approach to managing and maintaining its plantations are could not be more different. So, when you open your next bottle of Chardonnay spare a thought to why you are paying more or less for your preferred plonk. It may just help to appreciate it even more.
Photographs by The Tannin Addict.