2007 Twin Cities Food & Wine Experience 

Best of Show - Imported Red 

Best of Value - Imported Red 

Elegant and well-balanced with smoky dark fruits, cumin, bell pepper, roasted meat, spice, cocoa and oak carried by a velvet-smooth texture. This Carménère is one of the most exotic imported red wines to reach the US in many years.

Composition
100% Carménère

Harvesting
By hand, the third week of April.

Cellar Treatment
Stays four to six months in American oak barrels.

COLOR
A mild plummy-red.

Aroma
Elegant, fine, fruity, remembrance of berries and plums, with notes of chocolate, caramel and pepper

Awards
Gold Medal - Concourso Carménère - Maule 2006

Pairings
Elegant dinners with fine red meats or wild fowl, great for BBQs and well-seasoned dishes.

Calesa is produced in Chile by the Cooperativa Agrícola Vitivinícola de Curicó Limitada. This cooperative winery supports 68 small-scale local farmers. The cooperative’s Cellar processes the grapes grown by its members who all have an equal voice in its management. The grape sales to the cellar as well as the value-added wine sales to Etica support technical and business improvements for the cooperative.

The Cooperativa de Curico dates back to a severe earthquake in 1939 which destroyed vineyards and winemaking facilities. Helped by the government which encouraged cooperative working, groups of farmers got together to rebuild their industry. The co-ops thrived until the Pinochet coup in 1973, when the new government abolished financial support and investments that were already in place. As a result, many of the farmers were forced into bankruptcy. Through these difficult times, the Cooperativa strengthened its commitment to development and the community.

As a conscience collective, the vineyard and Cellar workers greatly benefit from the Fair Trade system. All workers are free to join trade unions and work together to maintain the worker-led Ecological and Social Fund. Objectives of this fund include farming production improvement, business training, technical assistance, organic production, education on principles of coopertavism, and Fair Trade. The fund promotes social and cultural roles of the region, especially in the municipality of Rauco, where 65% of the population lives under the poverty line and an additional 15% live in extreme poverty conditions.

Benefits of the fund have included:

• salary increases
• down payments on housing for 30 workers
• a new canteen for workers
• supplementary health care insurance
• home improvement projects
• school bus- drives 126 children to school in the area
• loans for irrigation
• formation of cooperatives in the schools
• computer classes
• improving quality and marketability of other agriculture products such as chilies and olives