A Hard Hit to Chilean Wineries

On Saturday, February 27, a devastating earthquake of magnitude 8.8 struck the country of Chile. The impact was 100 times harder than Haiti’s quake just six weeks ago and has left Chile in ruins with a rising number of fatalities. Located near the 2nd largest metropolitan area of Concepcion, the massive aftershocks are still being felt in the capital city of Santiago and other surrounding areas. The southern parts of Chile have been hit the hardest. In addition to the quakes, major port cities have been flooded due to tsunami waves. Luckily, due to strict building codes, the damage compared to Haiti is far less extensive.  While this quake has come as a shock, (the last major earthquake occureed in 85′) the Chilean people seem to be in high spirits.

In regards to the Chilean wine industry, it seems that the quake has left it with many difficulties. There have been articles posted online from Patricio Tapia as well as other Chilean writers. I have been following the Senior Editor of Wine Spectator, James Molesworth, on twitter who has been making daily tweets about the impact of the quake on Chilean wineries. Unfortunately, it seems that there has been millions of liters lost among wineries especially those located in the largest wine region of Maule. With no electricity or power, wineries cannot operate. In addition, due to the damages of bridges and roadways, wineries have no place to move their equipment or wine anytime soon. With more and more statistics showing losses of wine, it is apparent that the Chilean wine industry will suffer. It is hard to determine what the future holds but to the world, Chilean wine is too good not to have. We wish them the best during this time and I will post any updates in regards to the industry.

*Just over a month ago, I was visiting Chile. I fell in love with the country as well as the people, and can only imagine the hardships that they are enduring. I have spoken with my friends whom I keep in contact with on a regualar basis via Facebook and all have informed me that they are safe. They have hope and look upon this disaster as not a tragedy, but a challenge that they will overcome.*