Chile's great shakes

Francisco de Aguirre (Hallgarten 01582 722538)

Villard (Boutinot 0161-477 1171)

Concha y Toro (Paragon Vintners 0171-887 1800)

Gracia (Stevens Garnier 01865 263300)

Carmen (Stevens Garnier 01865 263300)

Torreon de Paredes (Forth Wines 01577 862513)

Montgras (Enotria Winecellars 0181-961 4411)

San Pedro (Roberson's Wine Merchant 0171-371 2121)

Tarapac (Waverley Vintners 01738 629621)

Gonzalo Abarz£a is just telling the group of British journalists how his wines might have even been improved by the area's frequent tremors when, right on cue, a roar deafens the tasting room. Holding the juddering table with one hand and swirling his Chardonnay with the other, he shouts: "This is nothing - really… Try our Late Harvest."

Vi¤a Francisco de Aguirre is Chile's most northerly vineyard, in the Limari Valley on the edge of the Atacama desert. There are 10,000 hectares of grapes here, destined for the grape brandy, Pisco. But Pisco sales reached a plateau, so Pisco producer Capel decided to try its hand at producing wine.

White grapes are the focus here with Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc leading the way, as they do for the rest of Chilean whites. Abarz£a has also made small vinifications of local varieties such as Pedro Ximenez and a couple of reds.

He says his company is "a pioneer in this region". In fact, it is the only wine producer in the region and will probably remain so, with the rest preferring less remote regions such as Casablanca and Cachapoal. Oddly enough, it was his 1998 Cabernet Franc which stood head and shoulders above the rest, while the whites were rather neutral, a common refrain from critics in the past about Chile's whites.

Standing out from the crowd

However, Chile's white wines have become more diverse of late - Chardonnay particularly so. At first glance, the main differences are marked out by the varying use of oak rather than distinctions from soil or microclimate. But the differences between, for example, a Bio Bio Chardonnay and a Casablanca Chardonnay are fast being realised and the region's diversity is becoming all-important.

If I had to pick out a Chilean Chardonnay in a blind tasting, it would be the papaya-fruit character that dominates the nose. Chilean papaya, that is. This lightly poached fruit is packed in glass jars and sold in supermarkets around the country. It grows around La Serena, near the Limari Valley, and tastes like a cross between a mango and regular papaya.

The Casablanca Valley is now a top Chardonnay spot. It is one of the coolest wine regions in Chile, being on the coast and close to the port of Valparaiso. Cool morning fogs slow the ripening process and the area is prone to frosts and sudden bursts of rainfall.

Thierry Villard had to hire a helicopter during spring to dry out his vines. "We had 36mm of rain in one day," he explains. The valley gets 300mm a year.

Villard is making top Chardonnay from frighteningly young vines (one to four years old), so the potential for the quality of future wines is mind-boggling.

Concha y Toro does well with the grape here, especially in its Trio Chardonnay. "Things have improved enormously," says Concha y Toro's Fernando Sagredo. "There's more control in fermentation than ever before, and there's more diversity in the wine-making. We're discovering the flavours from all the different areas."

One of the country's biggest producers, it is also looking to Maule for Chardonnay and has just planted vines in a new wine-growing region called Itata, a few hundred kilometres south of Santiago.

Jacques Antoine Toublanc prefers the cool climate of the Bio Bio region in the far south for Chardonnay. "It's an interesting area," says Vi¤a Gracia's wine-maker. "Bio Bio Chardonnay is more citric, and you can drink it earlier," he says. He also makes good Chardonnay from Totihue, in the Cachapoal Valley. "Totihue Chardonnay has more body, but you have to wait longer to drink it," he explains.

He has reservations about Casablanca, though. "There's too much rain and they get lots of mildew. We have vineyards there, but we're moving them on to the slopes."

"Casablanca is tough," agrees Jorge Coderch Mitjans at Valdivieso, who is also planting Chardonnay in Bio Bio. "In good years it can produce fantastic wines, but it has climate problems."

Carmen's California-loving wine-maker Alvaro Espinoza (he spent six months with Fetzer), believes organic wine-making has a big future in Chile. His Nativa Chardonnay bears this out. "People are getting more sensitive about ingredients in food. Organic ingredients are much better for you anyway, and I think an organically grown grape is better in general." he says.

Taste of the tropics

Sauvignon Blanc is Chile's second white hope. Chile produces 27% of the world's Sauvignon Blanc and, as with Merlot, the Chileans were duped when they bought the vines from France.

The French sent Sauvignonasse, not nearly such a noble variety, making wine that tends towards the flabby. The Chileans are gradually replacing it, but in the meantime what we receive in the UK is more likely to be that podgy cousin.

That said, some producers have managed to get the best from it. Alvaro Paredes has three different clones of Sauvignon Blanc at work in his Rio Claro vineyards which are 600m above sea level and close to the Andes. He does a green harvest to keep the natural acidity. "And I pick earlier," he adds.

Chilean Sauvignon Blanc doesn't generally have the assertive herbaceous character of the Loire and New Zealand, rather more tropical notes with a good dollop of citrus and pineapple. However, the rising tide of New Zealand wine-makers - Debbie Christiansen at Montgras and Brett Jackson at San Pedro, to name two - are having an impact on Sauvignon's flavour. A distinctly New Zealand-style herbaceous nose could be detected on these wine-makers' Sauvignons.

Jackson's Sauvignon Blanc comes from Chile's biggest vineyard, right outside the winery's door, in Lontue, Curico. "We have riper fruit than Casablanca," he explains.

Christensen's fruit is from the Colchagua Valley and she favours the Davis clone of Sauvignon Blanc. So, too, does Sergio Correa at Tarapac . "It increases the fruit character," he says.

Correa is playing with natural yeasts for both Sauvignon and Chardonnay. "In my view, 80% of the improvements to our whites are now done in the winery."

Viognier is another emerging hero. Paredes is planting it on the slopes in the Cachapoal Valley for the first time. He says: "I think Viognier will perform best here. We are more related to Condrieu than Alsace." n