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Vi?a Falernia was founded in 1998 after Aldo Olivier Gramola realized the potential for producing superb wines in this arid valley. Aldo settled with his family in the Elqui Valley in 1951 and has been producing grapes and wine there since 1975. The winery was founded when Aldo met Giorgio Flessati, an enologist working in the Trentino region of northern Italy. This is an innovative venture given that Vi?a Falernia is Chile's most northerly wine estate, a considerable distance from the country's main wine-growing areas. The driving force of the winery has been a passion for the wine and the challenge of transforming a tract of desert into a green vineyard with enormous potential for producing premium wines, availing itself of the latest technology and the support of the world's most renowned enologists. Vi?a Falernia comprises 800 acres of vineyards. Each area is located on a different site of the Elqui Valley, each site having very different climate conditions. One site, the Titon vineyard, lies at an altitude of 1050 feet above sea level, just 11 miles from the ocean. Temperatures here are quite cool as the evening will often bring a cooling fog. The second site is just around the winery at the end of Puclaro Lake (an artificial lake built 4 years ago in order to support the irrigation in the valley) at 1550 feet above sea level with no fog at all. This is the perfect site for our Pedro Ximenez, one of the most unique grapes in the world, as it is the principle grape in the great sweet Sherries of Spain. The soils in this vineyard are composed partly of rubble which has eroded from the Andes mountains and deposited by glaciers and wind, and partly of alluvial sand and silt deposited by the river. While stony, gravely soils are regarded as poor for most crops, their excellent drainage qualities make them perfect for wine growing. The climate is semi-arid (average annual rainfall is only four inches per year!) making drip irrigation indispensable during the spring and summer months. So, how did it end up in this minerally, dry, austere and exciting wine from Chile? We're not sure other than it was carried over from Spain over 30 years ago, and we were very excited to get it. May 2010 Vintners Series Newsletter (.pdf)
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