Pais

Let's take a trip to San Javier today. San Javier, Chile, that is. Located in the foothills of the Andes, just to their east and about 3 hours mostly south of the capital city of Santiago, and sitting right on the Pan American Highway. Interestingly, if we started in the Seattle, Washington area and drive south, so long as we had an ATV to make it from Panama to Colombia, we could make the drive without leaving the Pan American Highway. A long drive it would be, however, at roughly 30000 km or 18000 miles.

This is a great area for growing grapes. With the runoff from the Andes providing a natural source of irrigation, but the shield from the mountains providing for drought-like conditions during growing season, The temperature here rarely exceeds about 32C/90F nor does it often make it below freezing (0C/32F) and typical summer days tend to top out around 26C/79F. This is great growing weather.

The oldest grape here is know locally as Pais. If you happen taste some and like it, you can occasionally find it in California where they call it Mission or in the Canary Island where it is known as Listan Prieto, a relative of the Listan Negro we drank when we visited that atoll.

So, what do you think of when you think of a grape that has been planted in the Western Hemisphere for a long time? If you said Pais, you'd be right on point. Ampelographers think it was likely the first grape planted in the Western Hemisphere and likely near San Javier.

Wines that are made from Pais are made in either of two styles -- the first is pipeno or the old rustic style while the second is more modern much in the style of Beaujolais.

The pipeno style Pais is made using natural techniques. In fact, these wines could probably be certified organic in the US. They don't use herbicides or pesticides, they don't use heavy machinery and they rely on gravity to get the juice from crush to tank. One could best describe these wines as funky, but in a very interesting way. They show lots of dryness -- dried fruit and dried flowers and sometimes some dry dirt road as well. Use these as an inexpensive substitute for red Burgundy.

The modern style uses carbonic maceration, the process used in Beaujolais that often produces a flavor reminiscent of the stick of bubble gum you used to get with a pack of baseball cards. When drinking these wines, chill them much like you would a white wine to about 10C/50F and drink them outside on a summer day.