The fact that there is no risk of phylloxera infestation means that vines don’t need to be grafted onto American rootstocks, as is necessary in most others parts of the world. Shoots can simply be inserted directly into the soil.
The trellising system is Guyot or double Guyot, whereby the two lateral shoots are pruned to leave 6 to 8 buds each. Vineyards are planted at a distance of one meter, with two meters between the rows, giving a density of 5000 vines per hectare. Viña Falernia comprises around 160 hectares of vines (400 acres), plus 140 hectares (350 acres) owned by the Olivier´s family.
Titon vineyard, lies at an altitude of 350 m (1070 ft.), 18 km (11 miles) away from the Pacific Ocean without the presence of the Coastal Mountain Range in between, as a result receiving a strong impact from the Ocean influencing the climate producing morning fog and a strong cool breeze.
Day temperature there reaches a maximum of 24-25ºC (74ºF) during the summer and 9-10ºC (48-50ºF) at night; it is foggy very often until 10:00 to 11:00 in the morning. These are the perfect conditions for cultivating Chardonnay, Pedro Ximenez, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Syrah, Pinot Noir and Sangiovese. The vineyard has 125 ha (312 acres) under vines.
The second site is just around the winery at the end of Puclaro Lake – an artifitial dam built by the government in 2003 for supporting the irrigation in the valley and guaranteeing water supply for the cities of Coquimbo and La Serena.
Altitude is 515 m (1570 feet). Climate conditions are very different; it is drier than Titon, warmer and with fiewer foggy mornings (due to the lake that changed the microclimate). This site is amazing for grapes such as Syrah, Sangiovese, Pedro Ximenez, Torontel and Viognier.
Close to Vicuña there is a young planting called “Pedriscal” which is 30º South with temperatures between 21ºC to 7ºC (70-45°F) at 560 m (1680 ft.). 40 ha (100 acres) of vines are planted on the old bed of the Elqui River with a very stony soil. French varietals such as Syrah, Malbec, Carménère and Cabernet Sauvignon grow here in ideal conditions.
The fourth site is an old vineyard called “Huanta” or “Guanta” that is a spectacular rocky valley at an altitude between 1700 to 2070 m (5185-6320 ft.), one of the highest vineyards in the world. Climate here is very dry with a great gap between day and nighttime temperatures. Pedro Ximenez and Moscatel Rosada are the grapes of this area.
These geographical features have kept at bay downy mildew mold as well as the phylloxera and aphids which devastated most of the world’s vineyards a century ago.
