The Very Obscure History of America's Oldest Grape - Pais / Mission / Listan / Criolla
9/5/18 -
Long before Cabernet appeared in California, or Malbec became the rage in Argentina, or Carménère was planted in Chile (or any other variety of Vitis Vinifera was found in the Western Hemisphere), there was one grape that was widely planted all the way from California to Chile. It goes by many different names, as any grape would which was distributed over such a wide area, but it was planted for one reason: Conquistadors brought priests with them as they conquered "New Spain" in the 15th-century, and priests needed wine for the sacrament. Called Mission in California, Listan in Mexico, and País in Chile, this is the story of the original vine planted for viticultural use in the Western Hemisphere.
As described in Jancis Robinson's excellent reference work, "Wine Grapes," recent ampelographic studies have found that it is an obscure grape known as Listan Prieta, that disappeared from its native Castilla-La Mancha when phylloxera swept through the Iberian peninsula in the late 19th-Century. It lives on in small quantities in the Canary Islands, and in various mutated forms throughout the Western Hemisphere. Anyone looking into the history of wine-production in the Americas will undoubtedly read about it, but generally textbooks disregard it as a grape that produces low-quality wines. I am here today to prove to you that this is absolutely not the case! Making light, refreshing wines that benefit from a slight chill and frequently have a wonderful herbal character, today we have on offer a single-vineyard Mission from California, a high-altitude Listan from Mexico, and four País from Chile, considered this grape's spiritual home.
First we have the Harrington Mission 2017 Somer Vineyard from Bryan Harrington, a maverick winemaker based out of San Francisco who is one of California's major proponents of obscure varieties and old vineyards. Bryan has another job finding obscure Italian varieties and bringing cuttings back to UC-Davis. His commitment to obscure grapes runs deep. This elegant wine from Lodi is a great old-vine example from California. Nice dark red fruit mixes with soft herbal tones. Drunk with a slight chill this is a perfect summer sipper.
Moving south to Tecate, a town on the US-Mexico border in the hills east of Tijuana, the Bichi 2016 Listan is an awesome wine from our favorite Mexican producer. The vineyard is situated over 2,400 feet in elevation, a necessity for viticulture in the hot and dry climate of Baja California. This is an excellent bright red-fruited example of this grape, with tons of acidity provided by cold winds blowing off the Pacific Ocean in the evenings. Drink with a slight chill.
Chile has much more acreage planted to País than any other country, due to the fact it has not yet been subjected to the scourge of phylloxera. Chile is protected by the high Andes to the east, the Pacific to the west, and one of the harshest deserts in the world, the Atacama, to the north. Here País bush vines are to be found that have lasted through the centuries, and winemakers have developed their own styles and viticultural methods. Our first Chilean offering is in the Pipeno style, a common, ancient, and regional style of quaffing wine that involves fermenting and aging País, and sometimes Cinsault, in huge old Rauli pipes ("pipas"), made from the endemic Rauli beech. The Tinto de Rulo 2017 Bio Bio Valley País Pipeno, sourced from the southernmost winemaking region in Chile, is a fine example of this style of wine: light, elegant, herbal, and refreshing. This wine is the brainchild of three friends who got together to try and make wines with organic vineyard practice and minimal intervention from vineyards at least 70 years old. The second Chilean wine, the Rogue 2015 Itata Valley Tinto, is a blend of Cinsault and Pais. In 1939 a massive earthquake hit Chile and in the aftermath some destroyed Pais vineyards were replanted with Cinsault. This is therefore a common blend in the Itata valley, with the youngest vineyards being Cinsault planted in 1939 or 1940! The Cinsault lends a little more structure and tannin to the wine. Our next offer, the Garage Wine Co. 2017 País from the Secano Interior DO in the Maule Valley, is made by maverick garagistes Derek Mossman and Pilar Miranda. Derek is the founder of M.O.V.I. (Movimiento di Vinateros Independientes), an organization championing small producers. This is important in a country where 80% of the volume of wine produced is controlled by four megaproducers. His País is a very expressive example from this newly-minted wine region. Lastly, we have the Gonzalez Bastias 2015 Maule Valley País Matorral, a fantastic wine from a producer whose family has been making and selling País wines for over two hundred years. The story of this winery, its Rauli casks, and its amphorae have been lost in time, as has the age of the vineyard, though we know it was already well established two hundred years ago. This is a beautiful wine, that expresses an amazing sense of place, and that truly shows how this grape, with such a long, varied, yet humble history, has perhaps not yet found its true place among the great wine styles of the Americas. Andrew Farquhar
