This is how Cono Sur's Pinot Noir is made

Climatic and geographical conditions are decisive to produce a quality red wine, but there are other factors that also affect the result. One of them is the winemaking process, which can be particularly challenging for the Pinot Noir variety.  Let us tell you a bit of how we came to produce a world-class Pinot Noir wine.

Chile is known for being one of the biggest wine producers of the New World. In fact, during the past year wine production increased in 35.9% compared to 2017, reaching a total of 1,289,896,983 liters in 2018. However, throughout this long country – protected by the Andes mountain range and the Pacific Ocean – climatic and geographical conditions vary, allowing wines of different flavors, aromas and textures to be produced. Choosing the right terroir can be overwhelming.

Among the many wine growing regions are the San Antonio and Casablanca valleys, birth places of Cono Sur’s Pinot Noir wines. Wines that have contributed to the winery being ranked as the eleventh most valued wine brand in the world.

The winemaking of a high quality Pinot Noir

Cono Sur is known for producing a Pinot Noir of intense color, good acidity and smooth tannins. And this is how we achieve such a wine:

• The grapes are harvested manually.
• The clusters are later destemmed.
• The clusters pass through the selection table, and only those that meet the quality criteria are vinified.
• We perform a cold maceration process to extract flavor and color.
• Then, we follow the ancient Burgundy method and the grapes are first crushed with the feet. Later, it is worth mentioning that the cap is punched down manually to achieve a smoother extraction of color and tannins.
• After the alcoholic fermentation, the wines need some aging, which is decisive! With excessive contact with oak, the delicate fruity aromas – that are typical of this variety – can be lost. The choosing of the right aging time and type of barrel, including its volume and level of toast, demand a lot of attention.

Note that our Ocio Pinot Noir is aged in French oak barrels for 14 months. 80% in new 225l barrels and the remaining 20% in fudres.

Our journey to achieve such a precise winemaking began in 1999, with the “Pinot Noir Project”, an internal program aimed to create Chile’s first premium Pinot Noir. For this, we relied on the help of winemaker Martin Prieur -from Burgundy-, who advised us on the optimal management of the vineyards and winemaking techniques.

Thanks to Martin Prieur and Cono Sur’s constant investigative work, today we produce a Pinot Noir that reflect this careful winemaking process and the high quality of the soils and climates where our vineyards are located. Undoubtedly, the Casablanca Valley – along with that of San Antonio – are the ideal scenarios to produce a red wine with great palate and good acidity.

As we have seen, multiple factors go into making a good wine, among them: precise climatic and geographical conditions, cellar management and vineyard management – that in Cono Sur’s case include many sustainable practices. But as a result, we get nothing less than the icon Pinot Noir: Ocio. A beautiful wine, of unique aromas, flavor and texture.