Coffee Private Fund to Rescue Eastern Island & Chile Ancient Vineyards

After 18 years of generating an international business platform around wine, tourism and gourmet products, http://www.andeswines.com announced the interest of creating a «Wine & Coffee Private Fund» to execute Rescue Ancient Vineyards & Coffee plants found in the Pacific Ocean in Eastern Island with high focus on BioTech (Invitro) to protect the Chilean genetics as a starting point of a national strategy due to the great number of crops brought by immigrants to Chile since 1551…

Besides Eastern Island, other specific places in Chile Like San Rosendo in Bio Bio Region were found ancient vineyards of Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Cabernet Franc that need to be rescued, states Maximiliano Morales, Agricultural Engineer and former Wine Specialist of National Geographic Explorer Expedition Ship.

Real Estate, Dying vines, diseases and climate change effects on vines

Virus and insects are killing the Cabernet Sauvignon in Maipo Valley and around the world also is having some issues. 

In Chile for example, due to «margarodes vitis» insects that eats the vine roots, Cabernet Sauvignon in Maipo Valley needs to be replace each 30–40 years not reaching the highest wine potential.

Since original pre-philoxeric Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Cabernet Franc was found in the San Rosendo area in Bio Bio Region, AndesWines started a social wine project to help local producers to save those vines, having now, few amazing wines bottled in alliance with prestigious winemakers.

Something similar is happening in France and California, where hot temperatures are causing a great problem with the wine potential, besides, the Cabernet Sauvignon is with vinestocks that are not Cabernet Sauvignon to resist the attack of insects after the catastrophic attack of philoxera.

WineTech & BioTech Project in San Rosendo

These facts motivated Maximiliano Morales to work with a local family of San Rosendo in alliance to start a leverage investment strategy to look for an angel investor to create a nursery to clean, propagate and produce via in vitro biotech project the «Clon San Rosendo» that will be replanted in the historical San Rosendo area to improve life quality of locals to help them become grape producers, considering the winemakers are paying over 1.2 USD dollars per kilo of these varieties.

Like Maximiliano Morales says, «Chile represents a «Genetic Island of Ancient Vineyards in 4.000 kilometers» and yet small porcentaje of vines has been indetified and is a life time initiative that has last 18 years so far to research and helo local communities to save those vines and help them to produce wines from centennial vines.» 

The chilean wine & coffee venture started the direct contact with global Venture Capital and Angel Investors due to the great interest of several investment to save these two important products.

Climate Change is affecting the coffee belt production areas due to the increase of temperatures, plagues and diseases, generating great concern in the buyers markets and especially, those who depend on their coffee economy.

One fact, coffee plants arrived to Rapa Nui-Easter Island between 1800 and 1860. Since then, coffee plants have been abandoned and in a state of high fragility. A local family from Rapa Nui and Maximiliano Morales will start a pilot project to start the first plantation thanks from endemic beans obtained in the island.

Also, few endemic vineyards found in Eastern Island will be part of the research considering the high potential of tourism in hotels in Rapa Nui, among other fruits brought by sailors from different countries in the Polynesia.

«For that matter, business accelerator division of AndesWines is in charge to raise USD 500.000 dollars for the field work, establish management protocols of the genetic material and start this endeavor to first protect this original DNA not identified yet and maintain this for the Rapa Nui inhabitants that have great opportunities to supply coffee for the local hotels, restaurants and visitors.» says Maximiliano Morales.
There are several reasons to start this project, first is to identify which variety Rapa Nui has. Then, need to research to clean and propagate the DNA material for a pilot plantation and start a biotech initiative to study all the aspects of this discovery, states Morales.

Also, few endemic vineyards found in Eastern Island will be part of the research considering the high potential of tourism in hotels in Rapa Nui.

“For that matter, AndesWines in the business accelerator division is in charge to raise USD 500.000 dollars for the field work, establish management protocols of the genetic material and start this endeavour to first protect this original DNA not identified yet and maintain this for the Rapa Nui inhabitants that have great opportunities to supply coffee for the local hotels, restaurants and visitors.” says Maximiliano Morales.

There are several reasons to start this project, first is to identify which variety Rapa Nui has, and maybe we have one or more. Then, need to research to clean and propagate the DNA material for a pilot plantation and start a biotech initiative to study all the aspects of this discovery, states Morales.

AndesWines.com team is working on initiatives in new unexplored areas until today - is emphatic in pointing out that their focus is not just start this project in Rapa Nui, in fact they have identified another island in pacific that have endemic coffee DNA that soon needs to be studied too.

Another short therm initiative lead by Maximiliano Morales, is to start a pilot project in the continent in Chile, in one specific place they want to evaluate for coffee adaptation.

Maximiliano has worked as Coffee Strategist and Coffee Event Organizer in Chile the last couple of years- Ruta del Café de Andes Wines, Wine After Coffee sponsored by Juan Valdez Coffee Brand, Feria del Café and Te with over 20 coffee brands- and is working to start a project of establish the first coffee plantation in the north of Chile.

andes@andeswines.com