Vigno, whose name is a cross between vino (wine in Spanish) and carignan, is a project that involves a group of 17 producers with the intention of safeguarding Chile's old vine carignan patrimony, as well as add value and fair trade for those laborers who manage and own the vineyards. Each wine under the Vigno label must contain at least a minimum of 65 percent old vine carignan and it all has to be dry farmed. The project could be the first DOC to exist in Chile.
The story behind Chile's old carignan vineyards began with a disastrous earthquake that wiped out most vineyards around the city of Chillán in Maule. Winegrowers in the region started planting carignan to reinforce the wines made from país. These vineyards were forgotten for almost 50 years until 1995, when Chilean enologists began bottling it on its own.
In this video, Andrés Sanchez, winemaker at Gillmore as well as founder of Vigno, explains the concept behind the project in one of his exceptional vineyards.
- Jacobo Andrade Garcia Llamas, senior editor
