The Fruit That Looms
By Mike Danna
Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation Public Relations Director
Chile’ knows fruit.
It’s pretty keen on vegetables too.
The first thing you learn about Chile’ is that for a small country it has big ambitions. A leader in world fruit production, the country is the fourth largest supplier of wine globally and ships hundreds of millions of boxes of fruit, worth hundreds of billions to the U.S. every year.
There’s a good chance those cherries you pay $4 a pound for at Albertson’s came from Chile’. And next time you’re there, check the spirits department. You’re likely to find some outstanding Chilean wines.
The narrow strip of land that holds South America’s west coast in check is a growing powerhouse when it comes to fruit and vegetable production. Class 12 saw some of that Wednesday, January 25 as members visited the Lo Valledor fruit and vegetable market outside Santiago. It’s like BR’s Red Stick Market on serious steroids. Oh, and the constant stream of trucks moving product in and out of the venue each day makes it the only farmers’ market in the world that needs traffic cops. Seriously.
We dodged every manner of vehicle as we toured the market this morning, from micro trucks to guys pulling and pushing handcarts. But make no mistake, the organized chaos helps the market move 400 tons of fruit valued at more than $3.5 million U.S. every day during the peak season, which is right now.
Lo Valledor services about 100 Santiago-area fruit and vegetable farmers, giving them a market for their crops. And we you find out those farmers are only growing their crops on five to 20 hectares (between 13 and 50 acres), you realize how much produce is needed to generate 400 to 500 tons a day during the peak season.
Chile’ is a world leader in fruit exports. Nearly 80 percent of its fruit is exported annually, with more than 184 million boxes shipped to the U.S. each year.
And while some of those Chilean table grapes end up in the produce department of your local supermarket, a lot of those grapes end up across the aisle in the liquor department.
As the fourth largest exporter of wine, mostly vintages bound for the European market, the U.S. market has seen significant growth in Chilean wines in the last decade. The Undurraga Winery is a perfect example of how Chile’ is crafting quality wines that find their way to your dinner or restaurant table.
David, our host and tour guide at Undurraga, told us the winery began operations in 1885 and produces Syrah, Merlots and Cab Sauvs. On less than 400 acres the winery prides itself in being part of Chile’s 800 million liter wine exports a year. That’s 176 million gallons of wine leaving Chile’ every year, bound for some other nationality’s candlelight dinner.
But the story of how Chile’ came to grow grapes at all is, in my opinion, the most fascinating story. And if you’re Catholic you’ll both understand and appreciate my “Reader’s Digest” condensed version of the story.
According to Andres, our guide on the bus, Spanish explorers who landed in Chile’ in the mid-1600s had priests traveling with them. Priests, whose sole purpose was to spiritually protect the success of the quest, as well as convert the indigenous peoples the Conquistadors encountered, needed wine for their church ceremonies.
Since it didn’t take long for the ship’s wine stores to run dry, the priests needed a steady grape supply that could only be grown locally. According to Andres, the first vintages grown by the priests were known as “mission quality” wines, low-end varieties suitable for services at the mission. (Hence the name.)
But then something interesting happened. Seems the locals, as well as the Spanish who began to settle in the area, liked a glass or two every now and again. Conquering people apparently makes you very thirsty.
Soon the wine industry was booming in Chile’ and across South America for that matter. The church had a revenue stream, the soldiers were happy and farmers began showing up at the mission to help the clergy grow more and better grape varieties.
Today Chile’ continues to be a global player in wine production, hanging its corkscrew on some of the finest wines anywhere. And it all started with a ritual that soon had the whole world communing over a fine meal and a glass of wine.
Until next time…