País
País is a red wine grape that has played a prominent role in the Chilean wine industry. Up until the turn of the 21st century, it was Chile’s most planted variety until it was overtaken by Cabernet Sauvignon. The original grape has for long been called the common black grape and until recently we had no idea what it was, but it seems that research has now shown it to be the Palomino Negro or Listan Prieto which now only grows in the Canary Islands. For two or three hundred years País was, along with Muscatel, the work horse grape of Chile, but was eventually supplanted by the likes of Cabernet Sauvignon and relegated to an invisible rural existence. Today it is most commonly used in the creation of jug wine in the Bío-Bío, Maule and Itata River regions in the south. The grape is sometimes known as Negra Peruana. In Argentina the grape is known as Criolla Chica.
The País has one of the longest viticultural histories in Chile, believed to have been brought to the region by Spanish conquistadors from Peru during their colonization of the continent in the 16th century. Ampelographers believe that along with the Criolla Grande grape of Argentina and Mission grape of California, that the País grape is descended by the Spanish “common black grape” brought to Mexico in 1520 by the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés. That early grape was then cultivated by Spanish missionaries and spread throughout the Americas. The País remained Chile’s primarily wine grape until the emergence of the Bordeaux wine varietal in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
País produces traditionally a thin bodied, rustic red wine that typically has a light brown colouring. The grape’s thin skin does not provide much extract and vineyard owners typically harvest at much higher yields then what would be needed to produce higher quality wines. The grape is valued for vigour and ease of cultivation, producing 8-13 tons per acre even with limited amounts of irrigation. It is mostly consumed domestically but some sweet dessert wines have been exported in the past.
The País grape goes back to the times of colonization in Chile by the Spanish and the wine from this variety it’s not considered a fine wine, on the opposite it is considered rustic and used for the simple blends with Cabernet Sauvignon called burdeos (Bordeaux) in the countryside. Understanding this grape is entering a time machine to Chile’s past. There are still thousands of small producers in the southern wine valleys who tend to this grape. A collaborative project partially financed by the Chilean government, between the Spanish winery Miguel Torres and the University of Talca are made an effort to resuscitate this grape variety and the agriculture surrounding its production. The results so far are impressive. This initiative started to support the small grape farmers to improve the technology in the vineyard and cultivation of this grape. The idea is to produce a quality-driven, value-added product for a higher market niche beyond the traditional wine products like burdeos or chicha, a rustic grape cider. A wine made from the most ancient but neglected grape variety, the País grape, also called Criolla or Mission, which almost forgotten in the Chilean countryside survived in the secano costero area, a dry, not irrigated and rough area close to the coastline, from where was rescued for a better future.