Viña Caliterra

Harvest: Our upcoming wines from this extraordinary 2015 vintage

The Caliterra team is excited with the preliminary results of the 2015 harvest. In general terms, the season was marked by the particular climate of the oceanic zones, with higher air humidity levels but also higher heat peaks than the past years along with cool night temperatures, in a very bordeaux-style.

Caliterra was established in 1996 as a partnership between the Robert G. Mondavi family and Viña Errázuriz, who sought to realize their shared dream of producing high quality wines that reflect the potential of the Chilean nature, terroir and fruit.

The Colchagua Valley was chosen as the home of Caliterra Estate. Located in the heart of the valley, the estate of approximately 1,085 ha (2,681 acres) has 75% of untouched natural land and Mediterranean climate, where cool nights and gentle breezes temper the sun’s energy creating perfectly ripe, intense, concentrated and balanced wines.

In early 2004 Viña Errázuriz acquired the Robert Mondavi family’s 50% share in Caliterra, with the goal to craft premium environmentally friendly wines from one of the world’s most important winegrowing regions.

Colchagua Valley

Belonging to Great Rapel Valley located in the VI O’Higgins Region, this famous valley is characterized by its geography, its great diversity of soils and Mediterranean climate, where cool nights and gentle breezes from the coast of Pacific and the Andes, makes this region an ideal location for the production of high-end red varieties.

Caliterra Estate

The Colchagua Valley is home to our Caliterra Estate, located 200 km (125 miles) south of Santiago and 60 km (37 miles) from the coast at 150 meters above sea level (500 feet a.s.l.).

Caliterra Estate has approximately 1,085 ha (2,681 acres) with approximately 75% of untouched land and Mediterranean climate, where cool nights and gentle breezes temper the sun’s energy creating perfectly ripe, intense, concentrated and balanced wines.

The vineyards were first planted in 1997, with 210 ha (518.5 acres) of Merlot, Carmenere, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah and smaller lots of Malbec. Of the initial plantations, today we have 55 ha under organic management (136 acres), were we produce Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Carmenere.

Hillside plantings have been introduced to reap more of the estate’s potential. 32 ha (79 acres) were added to the initial vineyards in 2005 and 46 ha (113.6 acres) of hillside Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Carmenere and Viognier are being added during 2008 for a total of 288 ha (711.1 acres). Rocks are abundant in the estate’s medium textured soils that range from clay-loam to sandy-loam, making it possible to obtain wines of different tipicities.

Caliterra’s philosophy is to craft environmentally friendly wines under the concepts of precision winegrowing and sustainable vineyard management, where each variety stands out for their fruity, fresh and distinctive style, expressing the quality and pureness of Chile’s nature, terroir and fruit.

Our sustainable approach to crafting wines gives great value to high standards of environmental quality, protecting the health of the consumer and our workers, respecting the environment (flora and fauna), working strongly united to the community and preserving the natural landscape for future generations.

Our Caliterra Reserva wines are made from estate grown grapes specially selected by our winemakers to enhance their expression of flavors and aromas. The modern and distinguished red wines are crafted from grapes that come from our Caliterra Vineyard in the Colchagua Valley aged in French and American oak barrels to achieve a more complex and elegant finish. The grapes for our zesty and fresh white wines come from our vineyards in the Curicó, Maipo and Casablanca Valleys.

Our strong alliance with nature leads us to protect and conserve the area surrounding our vineyards. Wild horses and alpacas run freely through our native forests and naturally control the growth of weeds, which helps prevent forest fires. We also take special care to preserve the native flora and fauna in our sub-valley because of their great contributions to the character and unique identity that the biodiversity lends to our vineyard’s terroir.

Development of environmental protocols and standards.

Identification of polluting sources and implementation of reduction plans.

Implementation of erosion protection plans.

Looking after more than 50 free wild horses to prevent hillside fires.

Intensive reforestation plans.

Implementation of waste and water recycling plans.

Organic waste management and reincorporation of pruning back to the vineyards.

Implementation of damaged areas recovery plans.

Conservation of native flora within the property.

Prohibition of logging native forests and promoting proliferation of flora within hillsides.