Appears in
Oxford Companion to Wine

By Jancis Robinson

Published 2006

  • About

Chilean name for the historic grape variety also known as criolla chica, mission, and Listán Prieto. It is most common in Maule and Bío-Bío in the south and is mainly grown in old, unirrigated plots by elderly farmers, often as field blends. Accurate statistics are elusive but there are probably about 10,000 ha/25,000 acres in total. The variety used to be scorned but torres have made a thoroughly respectable sparkling pink from it and it is slowly appearing in more export quality bottlings.