'It's not really about picking early', Marcelo Papa clarified when we had dinner last week in London, 'it is a question of picking for fresh fruit flavours'.
Papa has been responsible for Concha y Toro's highly successful Casillero del Diablo brand since 1998 (c 4.4 million 9-litre cases annually), for the 'premium' Marques de Casa Concha since 1999 (c 150,000 cases) and for the Maycas del Limari range since it began in 2005. He appears to be able to oversee the winemaking for this massive operation and yet persist in his quest for better wines, which in today's context of precision viticulture...