The Humboldt Current (Image from The Wines of Chile)
Behind some of the most distinctive wines of Chile lies an ocean current that has a major effect on vineyards in this area, not to mention weather patterns across the globe.
How is it possible that a tropical latitude can produce cold-climate wines of the kind found on the coast of Chile? Why do Pinot Noir and Chardonnay thrive all along the 600-mile wine-producing terroir of the Chilean coast?
The underlying cause of these conditions is to be found out in the cold waters of the Pacific, where a powerful oceanic current runs from south to north — The Humbolt Current.
Of all the great oceanic currents, the Humboldt stands out:
It generates one of the richest maritime ecosystems in the world
It is so large and cold that it affects the coasts of South America from the 50th to the 4th parallels
Whenever it shifts course, weather patterns around the globe change completely
The Humboldt Current flows up to the continent and rises to the surface at a latitude of between 50 and 40 degrees south. The volume of water is such that even six hundred miles out to sea it has a major effect on inland weather.
Due to its scale and length, the Humboldt Current changes the weather around it, creating a cold buffer in nearby air masses and lowering temperatures as it goes.
The contrast couldn’t be starker: where on land the earth is barren, the air dry and there is a total lack of plants other than in river valleys, out to sea the cold, nutrient rich water results in an explosion in marine life. The Humboldt Current sustains the richest marine ecosystem in the world on the coasts of Chile, Peru and Ecuador. Nothing escapes Humboldt’s icy breath, which is why it is so important to the coastal wines of Chile.
Next time we’ll take a look at the Coastal terroirs of Chile.
Materials provided by The Wines of Chile