South America needs 'a touch of the exotic' to make great wine
If Argentina and Chile want to gain a reputation as countries where great wine is produced, they need to create distinctive wineries offering something new, one commentator has said.
These nations could take some cues from ambitious personalities like Angelo Gaja or the original approach of Josko Gravner, who ages his wines in terracotta amphoras, wrote Matt Kramer in Wine Spectator.
"Exotic" producers such as these are a crucial part of wine's ecosystem, much as the creations of fashion trendsetters are rarely worn on the street but influence and drive a broader industry.
"What I call the exotic wineries play an haute-couture role in pioneering creative new approaches in winegrowing and, not least, in shaping the larger wine culture," he added.
Italian-born Angelo Gaja, the owner of Gaja Winery, is known for his use of barriques - 225-litre barrels made from French oak - to age his distinctive Piedmontese wines.