Vistamar: cold climate and slow maturing wines

With a philosophy that respects the times and cycles of nature, Viña Vistamar presents a portfolio of unique reds and whites in their style: fresh, with an outstanding aromatic intensity and great balance.

Its name reflects the genesis of the project: to provide wines that came from the cool and coastal Casablanca Valley. Literally, wines with an ocean view. The initial idea, well ahead of its time, came from the winemaker Pablo Morandé, founder of the winery, who years before had already discovered the tremendous potential of the valley.

Shortly after, in Vistamar we began to look for other fields that would allow us to have a quality origin for more traditional red varieties. This is how the La Moralina farm appeared, located in the middle of the Andean pre-mountain range of the Cachapoal Valley. The decision to incorporate this origin not only allowed us to validate our commitment to freshness as the main characteristic of our wines, but also to incorporate the DO Cachapoal, a second origin, mountain range this time, but with as much fresh identity as Casablanca. With the project gaining strength, Cristián Carrasco joined the winery to have an important wine experience there that would lead him today to oversee directing the production of all Vistamar wines.

In this way, today Vistamar is a vineyard that contemplates the cycle of nature, and its philosophy is based on the fact that we are all part of it and that the key to a balanced life is time. Amazed by the slow ripening cycles of the grapes, the winemaker Cristian Carrasco decides to create a collection of wines that invite us to pause and respect our inner nature.

Selection of Terroirs and Cold Weather Barracks

Vistamar is a winery that has studied for years the terroirs where it produces its wines. And its watchword has always been to look for sectors with microclimates and soil conditions that allow and respect the ripening of the fruit. For this reason, it has specialized in cold climate terroirs, areas that deliver wines with greater balance and verticality.

The currents coming from Antarctica exert a determining influence on the climate of the Chilean coast. This is characterized by skies covered with thick coastal mists called camanchacas or garúas. The absence of rain and the temperatures that are colder than they should be at this latitude, allow these fogs to penetrate the interior of the valleys and during the afternoon, cold winds blow from the sea towards the land. These conditions, characteristics of the hills of the Cordillera de la Costa, added to the great thermal amplitude between day and night during the summer, are ideal for our cold climate varieties to achieve a slow and even maturity.

Slow Maturing

Without a doubt, slow-maturing wines are Vistamar’s specialty, a vineyard that has confirmed the exceptional quality of grapes that ripen slowly in its low-temperature terroirs. For the vineyard, this time is rewarded with fruity notes, intense aromas and acidity that are very characteristic of its wines.

Quality and elegance

Viña Vistamar wines are characterized by being modern, with vertical structures and high concentration. In addition, the winery is present in more than 42 countries and has more than 500 recognitions with 90+ scores in important national and international specialized media.

Cristián Carrasco, the winemaker

Although the winemaking at Vistamar was initially carried out by well-known professionals, in February 2011, Cristián Carrasco joined the Morandé Wine Group where he soon became part of the oenological team as a second winemaker. This allowed him to gain extensive experience and share the development of the wines that Pablo Morandé oversaw in the vineyard, especially his award-winning sparkling wines, and with Ricardo Baettig, the current oenological director of Viña Morandé. As of January 2016, in addition to continuing with these tasks, Cristián began to focus more deeply on Vistamar wines. This was a process that lasted around three years, to finally assume, in 2019, the position of chief winemaker at Viña Vistamar.

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Vistamar: cold climate and slow maturing wines