Wine Made in Ecuador is Nothing Short of a Miracle

The story of wine in Ecuador is brief and mostly recent, although the production of European style wines has continued on this continent for centuries. The oldest still existing vineyard in South America is located at Hacienda Tacama in Ica, Peru about 200 miles south of the country’s capital in Lima. These wines were made for Catholic churches and began with grapevines brought from the Canary Islands in the 1600s. Eventually, Spain became protectionist about wine exports from South America, so the wine from Tacama was distilled and turned into Peru’s signature brandy, Pisco, named for the city nearest to the hacienda.

Ecuador’s early wine production was for similar reasons, to supply the church’s communion table.  Ecuador’s wines first were made in the Patate valley, Tungurahua province on the eastern side of the huge bay southwest of the country’s largest city and port, Guayaquil.  A small amount of wine is still made there today, but is mostly novelty fruit varieties.

Vintage varietal wines and blends made with grapes familiar to most North Americans did not ramp up in Ecuador until the 21st Century. The two largest vintners are currently Chaupi brand from their estancia northeast of Quito in Pichincha province, and the Dos Hemisferios winery on the western side of Guayaquil’s bay in the Guayas province. Chaupi grows palomino grapes most often used to make sherry. They also offer a pinot noir, some meritage or ‘blends’, and a white chardonnay viognier.

Viticulture in Ecuador began in Chaupi, but the current 900 pound gorilla of a vineyard is Dos Hemisferios weighing in with about a dozen different labels. This contemporary vineyard is a bit of a wonder, beginning their project in 1999.  A wonder, but not really, because the story of market dominance very often results from establishing a virtuous cycle of business that leaves all other competitors far behind in a cloud of dust. A comparison would be the biggest US wine, beer, and spirits company you’ve never heard of in the United States: Constellation Brands, a Fortune 500 hailing from the heart of New York’s diminutive wine country and now silently hoovering up many American, Central American, and European drink brands you actually have heard of like Corona, Robert Mondavi, and Modelo recently spun off by Annheiser-Bush. Constellation is now the top US importer of beer.

Dos Hemisferios, in a similar overnight wine success story due to an endless supply of cash among other advantages, owes their rapid market dominance to the pairing of passionate vintners and astute businesspeople. To go from walking to a dead run in the wine business in less than a decade is a near miracle, but also a testament to having the right product at the right moment and a large supermarket chain in which to sell it. The passionate winemakers behind this success story are Guillermo Wright and Alejandro Taramelli, who began as table grape growers at the end of the 90s. They ventured into wine making in 2004 after first experimenting with wine for their own families’ consumption. It’s a folksy tale, but the wine’s eventual market position probably is also due in large part to Wright’s family ownership of the Favorita Corporation, which provided their product with a fully developed distribution chain and prominent shelf space in their grocery stores. The quaint origin story continues as they bring the first Cabernet Sauvignon grape vines home from France in a suitcase in 2004 to begin commercial winemaking. In 2005 they added Brazilian Cabernet and Malbec vine transplants to the mix. Very shortly thereafter, their vineyard rolled out its first high quality wine in 2006. The rest of their line of Cabernet Sauvignons, blends, and Chardonnay (a multiple-award winner) hit the market one and two per year after that, until their premium label, begun in 2009, went on sale in 2011. Dos Hemisferios was marketing 60,000 bottles annually by 2014 and growing table grapes came to an end.

Many would have thought that the limey calciferous soil of Dos Hemisferios’ Del Morro fields in the low country south of Guayaquil and the lack of a winter freeze would present a problem for developing the desired flavor characteristics in their wine. So too would the furious onslaught of pests in tropical Ecuador including mites and insects, birds and bats, not to mention the cryptogamic diseases requiring 18 to 20 treatments for each of the two crop cycles the vineyard gets at the equator. However, Wright and Taramelli have surmounted these obstacles to gain international recognition and numerous awards for their wine. Come along with Life in Loja as we taste test a few of these impressive vineyard’s varieties. We’ll try and discuss popular Cabernet Sauvignon-Merlots and award-winning Chardonnay.

Dos Hemisferios’ entry into the market with their ‘New World’ wines began in 2006-7 with their Bruma label.  ‘Bruma’ is a double entendre in Spanish for ‘mist’ like the veils over their vineyards or more amusingly, a potentially alcohol-fueled ‘haze.’ Bruma is now one of several of the vineyard’s Cabernet Sauvignon-Merlots. Life in Loja sampled the 2016 Bruma. CabSauv - Merlot is a popular blend around the world and therefore a good marketing bet for Dos Hemisferios’ new vineyard. The Cabernet Sauvignon grape was the result of a serendipitous interbreeding between the red Cabernet Franc grape and the Sauvignon Blanc (white) grape grown once upon a time in 17th Century Bordeaux in Southwestern France. The easy to grow and durable thick-skinned variety is now the most popular red grape throughout the world. A rich amount of tannins in this characteristically deep red full-bodied wine with medium acidity allows it to age well in oak casks. The ability to age can also push the alcohol as high as 15%, although this producer’s label reads 14%, which may also explain the ‘tipsy’ name. CabSauv’s acidity and relative kick make it something to enjoy with food. The vineyard says their CabSauv is smooth, ‘easy to drink’, and appropriate with any meal. Life in Loja tried this offering and found it pleasant enough. The first impression is of oaky-ness from the barrels used to age it. This is present right away but not overwhelming. Same with the amount of tannins, which are  present and not too strong. Tannins are the characteristic which makes your tongue feel a little dry like drinking a cup of strong black tea. You would also experience this biting into a red grape right off the vine. Bruma has ‘legs’ which are the slightly syrupy rivulets running down the inside of the glass when you swirl it before tasting. This tells you that the wine has a developed ‘body.’ We found nothing to put us off trying Bruma again.

Dos Hemisferos’ other Cabernet Sauvignon - Merlots include ‘Pardoja’ or ‘paradox’ label because of the near impossibility of producing wine in Ecuador’s sub-tropical coastal climate. Their other Cabernet Sauvignon - Merlot is labeled ‘Insignia’ but should be named ‘enigma,’ the appellation of their white wine discussed below. Insignia is a mystery because it is so difficult to find information on it. The only clue that it is likely made by a subsidiary of Dos Hemisferos is the presence of their corporate name Del Morro, SA in the fine print on the back of the label, otherwise there is an almost complete information blackout about it. Insignia CabSauv - Merlot is also a ‘Reserva’ indicating that it has had years aging in a wine cask and more aging in the bottle. Insignia may be a find because it has the lowest price of all their offerings despite the special handling. Insignia’s pricing may very well be a strike back at wine import ‘dumping.’ Wine dumping is practiced in our region by big producers in Argentina and Chile in a bid for retail dominance. Same with Spanish wines. These ubiquitous Iberian vintages on every supermarket and liquor store shelf here have the double advantage of liberal import agreements with Ecuador and a surplus of products resulting from Spanish government subsidies of their own wineries.

Ecuadorian and South American wine drinkers favor the reds, something that Life in Loja’s tasters share in common. However, the international darling of the vineyard’s line is their multiple medal-winner ‘Enigma’ Chardonnay white wine brought out in 2008. Made with an easy to grow very adaptable vigorous grape from the Burgundy region of France, the second most popular white grape under cultivation around the world, the grape likes Dos Hemisferios’ limestone soil. It is again  easy to understand why they chose to cultivate it. Wines made from Chardonnay grapes take on the characteristics of the terrain where they are grown, with the taste further diversified by how they are processed. The Chardonnay thus fits no specific flavor profile, but can range from oaky or smokey, to spicey, or buttery, to tropical notes. The only thing Chardonnay’s have in common is their color. Chardonnays cultivated in warmer climates, like Enigma, usually mean fuller-bodied wines with tastes of tropical fruit, melon, and citrus. Meant to be consumed most often in its youth, food pairings with the wine will depend on the characteristics imparted by the region and the maker. It is usually served accompanying white meat, while “oaky” Chardonnays go well with spicy-garlic infused Asian and Latin American foods. Acidy Chardonnays compliment tomato and onion-based dishes, and the older mellow varieties are enjoyable with aged cheese. Dos Hemisferos says its Chardonnay has a sweet beginning taste with a long finish, referring to the amount of time the flavors persist on the tongue once the wine is swallowed. The vineyard’s recommended cheese paring is with Manchego-type cheeses which are not dissimilar to Monteray Jack cheeses familiar to North Americans. When Life in Loja uncorked the Chardonnay, it was completely inoffensive. Not very sweet, and not a particularly long finish or aftertaste. The impression is crisp and clean with no rough edges. It has a desirable level of acidity and flavors that remind us of tart green apples. In fact, we suggest that it be served with fresh fruit like apples and ripe pears, nuts, and the recommended medium aged cheese topped with a smear of Dijon. We would not hesitate to buy this white again and share it with friends.

Life in Loja is dedicated to exploring all things Ecuadorian in this special region at the end of the Andean rainbow. If you’d like to explore the tastes of Loja and many of our other cultural and natural wonders, or if you would like more information about visiting or relocating in Loja, contact us by email, or phone/WhatsApp at 593-098-674-5994.

Life In Loja is registered under Ecuador’s department of intellectual rights as of 2022.

Some images from Dos Hemisferios