Chile's Water Shortage Threatens Wines and Mines
Chile is facing a nn eight-year dry spell that has left fruit withered, miners grappling for enough water to run plants and the forestry industry facing some of the worst wildfires in the last century.
Photographer: Martin Bernetti/AFP via Getty ImagesWinery De Martino found the clay soil and cool temperatures needed to produce its award-winning Quebrada Seca pale chardonnay in the Andean foothills north of Santiago. Now drought is threatening the grape’s survival.
De Martino will stop producing two cheaper wines from grapes grown in the Limari Valley, about 200 miles (320 kilometers) from the Chilean capital, to free up precious water for its bestseller that goes for $29 a bottle, enologist Marcelo Retamal said. If parched reservoirs aren’t replenished, grape growing in Limari may disappear altogether.