SANTIAGO – The mixture of grapes of vitivinicultural varieties with denomination of origin with table grapes – which is regulated by law – is part of the irregularities that medium and small producers in Chile claim that large companies are committing in the field, accusing that the situation is serious for the sector.
The most important vineyard guilds in Chile, which congregate more than 10 thousand small producers and that generate 70% of the wine grape, among them Vinos Curicó-Maule AG and Viniculturists of Villa Alegre and Loncomilla, called the Ministry of Agriculture to urgently inspect this fact.
The block of farmers, which was formed with the aim of addressing the alleged irregularities of the market, requires vinification of table grapes in separate cellars of wine varieties, to improve control and discourage fraudulent practices in matters of designation of origin.
They also demand that the total of the strains considered to be viticultural be added to the regulations of Denomination of Origin; that wines made with table grapes are marketed and/or exported under the gloss “Table grape wine” and substantially increase the amount of the fines that are applied to be a real punishment and disincentive to frauds or crimes in the winemaking.
The president of the Association of Producers of Grapes Wines with Denomination of Origin AG, Andrés Vial, warns that “the problem is that when mixing the varieties, they lower the prices and the wine produced with table grape is not of good quality”.–MercoPress
