Can grapes grow up trees?
Well, actually yes! Meet the Wild 'Salvaje' wines of Bouchon Family Wines.
Creeping through a band of forest that separates 100 year old vineyards at the Bouchon family estate, grow a number of wild vines. The vines, which are 80+ years old are know in Chile as the Pais variety, a grape variety brought from the Canary Islands to South America by the Missionaries in the 1500s.
Overtime the vines have spread their way along the native vegetation, and despite having never been manipulated by man, grow a healthy crop of bunches throughout the trees year on year. They’re 100% unpruned, unirrigated and have never been fertilized or sprayed and the abundance of growth throughout the forest, including wild rosebushes, certainly influence the profile of the wine.
The fruit is picked in March or April by hand with ladders to reach the upper bunches, creeping up to 5 metres into the trees. The result of this truly unique site speaks for itself in the wonderful Salvaje wines.