Things are slowly getting back to “normal”
This is information on the situation in Chilean vineyards from Helen Albano of Brandabout SA, www.brandabout.cl, a marketing and promotion organization for Chilean wines:
“Last week was a very eventful week in which information surrounding the real situation in the effected regions and the vineyards was both difficult to get hold of and understand the implications for the next few months. Towards the end of the week however and today, the picture has become much clearer and I would like to share this information with you.
Please remember that the worst affected areas are the coastal areas immediate around Conception which were badly damaged by the earthquake and tsunami. These are the principal areas which are shown on television, showing complete devastation and they are not the areas in which the vineyards are located.
We have now been in touch with approx. 90% of our client vineyards in Chile. Almost all of them have experienced some losses to their infrastructure in their bodega, a minimal loss of wine and in a few cases also suffered structural damage to their commercial offices in Santiago.[…]
In Santiago, business has now resumed and is operating normally. The road networks are good and there are no visible effects of the earthquake except in very isolated areas – mainly the older parts of Santiago. All communications channels are now working and we have good internet, mobile and fixed line telephone connections. All the shops have resumed business and restaurants have re-opened.
The main highways to the North (Ruta 5) and to the coast (Ruta 68, Ruta 78) are completely open and not affected by the earthquake. To the south of Santiago, the main highway (Ruta 5) is open but suffered some damages. Journeys south now take longer than expected with some diversions in places. With the high amount of government and military aid traffic on this road, it is expected that the main communication channels will be repaired very quickly.
Vineyard areas:
— Elqui, Limari – ok, not affected
— Aconcagua – very limited damage in some vineyards
— Casablanca – ok (no reports so far)
— San Antonio – ok, (no reports so far)
— Maipo – very limited damage in some vineyards
— Cachapoal – affected in some areas
— Colchagua – affected
— Curico – affected
— Maule – affected
— Bio Bio – no report so farAll of the vineyards are now accessible and we are looking forward to business resuming with them in April. […]”
Colchagua badly hit
Many areas in Chile were very badly hit by the quake. New reports say e.g. that one of Chile’s biggest cities, Concepcion, was moved three meters to the east by the earthquake. Colchagua is one of the wine regions that were badly hit by the quake. Here is a report we’ve had from Andrea Ilabaca at MontGras Properties (www.montgras.cl):
“As you have seen, the earthquake that we lived through last Saturday, February 27th is one of the strongest in the world’s history. It’s said to be about 500 times stronger than the one that Haiti suffered in January.
Now, as we wait for Mother Earth to re-accommodate herself, we are living with the replicas; dozens of quakes a day, some even up to 6.5º on the Richter scale.
Colchagua was hit hard… and is on the ground. Till today there is still no electricity or running water.
Hundreds of Santa Cruz’s houses and buildings destroyed, on the ground.
The Santa Cruz Cathedral lost one of its towers and suffered major damages.
The losses and damages that our wineries suffered are great.New bottles lost; Barrels down like bowling pins; Stainless steel tanks down; Santiago offices in a mess; Loss of wine; Thousands of bottles with and without wine lost; Fallen tanks near bottling line; Tanks laid down to rest.
…. BUT OUR DRIVE IS EVEN GREATER.Fallen tanks immediately removed; Everything was taken out of the winery; Damaged bins, removed; Workers preparing orders; Everything was replaced and re stacked; All equipments cleaned and checked; Wine shop restacked and cleaned; Bin room restacked; Damaged bins and pallets removed; Service patios cleaned; Barrel chai restacked; Service patio cleaned, additional generators rented.
Each bin checked; Team work in re-establishing safety and order; Tanks checked to be able to receive 2010 vintage; Immediate removal of damaged tanks; Label supply room in order; Excellent morale of our workers.
The work carried out last week, since the day of the earthquake has been tremendous. The commitment and high spirit of our workers, despite the losses they may have suffered, is truly admirable.
Our Santiago office, Visitors Centre and our wineries are fine and operative. We shipped 3 containers last Wednesday. We are harvesting normally since last Thursday and tomorrow, we start our normal bottling process.
Fruit reception since last Thursday; Harvest, fruit selection and vinification underway!
Initially, we were pessimistic about the amount of the losses. Only for your information, we now estimate them to be around US$ 3 million, although we hope to have an exact figure this week and gratefully, we do have insurance coverage.
We are standing strong! But our country and region have been very affected. For us to recover quickly, please remember:
The best way to help CHILE is by preferring our products.
The best way to help MontGras Properties, is by paying all invoices soon to expire and with anticipated payments of placed orders.
The best way to help the workers and neighbours of the Colchagua Valley, is to send your donation via wire transfer to the Corpbanca account, or cheque to our corporate office. With this money, we can start building homes in the piece of land we have donated to our workers.
Don’t forget us, we do need your help!
The entire MontGras Properties Team”
The text refers to donations to Corpbanca. We don’t have any details of that activity, other than that it has been put in place to help raise money for workers and neighbours in the Colchagua Valley. If you would like to make donations we suggest you contact MontGras to get the details: www.montgras.cl. Andrea ends with a note that they are among the fortunate: “Luckily, we faired quite well under the circumstances, as other neighbouring wineries lost everything and suffered greater damages. But our greatest asset by far, is our people. They truly make the difference!”
