Viña San Pedro’s Altair: Two decades of an ongoing journey

Vertical tastings are often a self-indulgent exercise through which producers try to assert the superiority, longevity and consistent quality of their wines.

However, sometimes an invitation to taste all produced vintages of a given label comes with the enticing challenging of revisiting its evolution, consider the missteps and give feedback on the direction and goals of the current winemaking team.

The latter was the case when the San Pedro team traveled from Chile to London for a tasting of all but one of the vintages of Altair so far released. A brave proposition, that showed the evolution of the wine, with the many questions, hesitations and changes of priorities along the way.

To a large extent, Altair’s journey mirrors that of Chilean fine wine as a whole: from a fascination with classical foreign paradigms to the recognition of a potential for difference and local identity – all backed by robust technical ability.

Scroll down for tasting notes and scores for all released vintages of Altair

From French love affair…

Altair started as a partnership between Cachapoal Valley’s Viña San Pedro and St-Émilion’s Château Dassault, with Pascal Chatonnet as consultant and Ana María Cumsille as on-site winemaker. The joint venture planted 70 hectares of Bordeaux varieties, as well as Syrah and Carménère, at the foot of the Andes hoping to craft a premium blend to complement both of the estate’s ranges.

Until then, San Pedro had focused on more marketable brands – not least the popular Gato Negro label – with all production based at the historical winery in Molina. It was there, in the heart of the Central Valley, that the company, founded in 1865 and now part of the prominent VSPT Wine Group, had had its sole home for the previous 150 years.

The joint venture, and the new plantings, crystallised the aim to expand and focus on premiumisation.

Since 2002, Viña San Pedro has had a dedicated facility for the production of its fine wine range – which, in addition to Altair, includes the Cabo de Hornos, Kankana de Elqui, Sideral and Tierras Moradas labels.

The first wines produced at the Cachapoal Andes winery hail from the 2003 vintage, which explains the decision not to include the first vintage of Altair (2002) in the vertical overview. The Altair brand has been fully owned by San Pedro since 2007, when Château Dassault abandoned the partnership, though with Chatonnet and Cumsille retained on the winemaking team.

… to Chilean self-awareness

Brand ownership and winemaking lineage are important to understand the evolution of Altair and were reflected in the proposed – and helpful – grouping of vintages that structured the tasting: ‘classical beginnings’, from 2002 to 2006; ‘forging identity’ (2007-2011); after skipping a vintage due to unfavourable growing conditions, the period between 2013 and 2017 was defined as one of ‘deepening the roots’; 2018 marked the beginning of the ‘evolution toward purity’ while the latest release (2021) was the dawn of a ‘consolidation era’.

This first stage is clearly informed by a Bordelais stylistic framework and Pascal Chatonnet’s background. The prolific consultant – who counts names such as Vega Sicilia, Château Cos d’Estournel, Château d’Issan and Numanthia as both current and former consulting engagements – shaped an elegant but unapologetic use of wood.

This has resulted in wines that are classical and, if old fashioned, have certainly withstood the test of time.

The phase that followed the dissolution of the partnership with Dassault, was pivotal. It marked the beginning of the pursuit of an identity unique to Altair and a true understanding of the local terroir. Deliberately reducing the use of oak allowed Chatonnet and Cumsille to more vividly explore the character of the fruit and vintage variation.

A different kind – and level – of nuance emerges as the duo experimented with different blends. The promise and potential of a truly Chilean fine wine emerges.

Missteps and regaining focus

With Gonzalo Castro and Marco Puyo at the helm as, respectively, head winemaker and technical director, Altair entered a new stage in 2013. During this period, San Pedro expanded its Cachapoal plantings and did extensive soil mapping. Greater knowledge of terroir was met, puzzlingly, with heavier-handed wood in the cellar – with uneven results.

But the careful study of soil and vineyard behaviour provided a good launchpad for the next winemaking leading duo. 2018, the first vintage of Altair with Gabriel Mustakis as head winemaker and Ignacio Diaz overseeing cellar operations, marked the beginning of the search for a new style, with more detail, better oak integration and a clear commitment to Cabernet Sauvignon.

There’s a clear intention to inscribe Altair among the great Cabernet’s of South America – an ambitious goal, considering the quality and history highlighted in Amanda Barne’s comprehensive overview.

Structural fine-tuning

Mustakis’ approach has clearly focused on improving wood integration and the enhancement of the tannic framework. For this, he deployed a variety of fermenting and ageing vessels and developed a more precise approach, with each plot vinified separately.

‘Concrete eggs, amphorae, foudres – vessels of different sizes, shapes, and materials for ageing allow us to adapt to the unique characteristics of the grapes at each vintage,’ he explains.

Although perhaps not yet at its full potential, the vertical showed a clear evolution, remarkable consistency and increasing technical precision. This translates into a particularly well-presented structure that supports the character of each vintage and the contribution of all the blending components ever more successfully.

Somehow, the story of Altair is also the story of how South American Cabernet Sauvignon – and Chilean in particular – carved its place on the international stage by asserting its uniqueness, rather than trying to emulate Bordeaux or North American role models.

‘It’s an opportunity to push the boundaries of what we can do with Chile’s unique terroirs,’ says Mustakis. ‘With over 20 vintages behind me, I feel a deep sense of responsibility not only to the [San Pedro] but also to the legacy of Chilean winemaking.’

San Pedro Altair – vintages 2003 to 2021 tasted and scored:

Wines in order of release, with latest release shown first. 

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• Great Cabernets of South America
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