Discover the Wines of Ecuador

This morning, we are flying to Guayaquil, the largest city in Ecuador. From there, we are heading about 90 mintues southwest to the coastal town of Playas. There is no winter here. There is no summer. Instead, they have a wet season and a dry season. But, because there is no winter and therefore no grape dormant season, they harvest twice every year. How great is that?

Once in Playas, however, we have an interesting trek to say the least. We head on a bumpy dirt road between palm trees, banana plantation and cacao plantations before arriving at today's winery. 

The soil here is rich with calcium. The sea breezes cool the area just enough that they are able to grow a variety of different grapes. Typical daytime highs run about 25C/77F. Nights are much cooler, but there is not the slightest threat of dormancy let alone freeze.

There is one thing lacking, however, and this would appear to be from the complete lack of seasons. Without the long days of summer, the grapes are never able to naturally develop the high brix level or sugar content necessary to get to the level of body and alcohol content that have become increasingly popular, particularly in the New World, over the the last 30 years or so. To counter this, all of the wines are put through a process known as chaptalization where sugar is added to the must during the fermentation process in order to produce wines with alcohol levels that make them commercially palatable.

Here, they grow all the traditional, best-selling grapes from around the world -- the five noble Bordeaux reds: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Petit Verdot, as well as Pinot Noir, Syrah, and Chardonnay. And, in a style not known anywhere else in the world that I know of, vines of different varietals are intermingled with each other. So, you may see a row of vines consisting of Merlot, Chardonnay, and Syrah.

Much as yesterday's wines were, these are not yet world-class wines. That said, they are probably further along than those of Zimbabwe and have a better future. Yet, they are inexpensive. The Reserve Cabernet can probably be found for about $12. Curiously, or not because of the other vegetation grown locally, all of the wines have banana notes to them, often considered a serious defect in red wines, but if you can get past that, the wines are quite palatable.



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