Magdalena Mendoza is a 2024 Nuffield Scholar, supported by Climate AI and PS Garcia Wines, and she will study dry farmed viticulture adaptation to the new social, climatic and ecological scenario.
Magdalena is part of a wine grape and nut family farming business, producing about 60 tonnes of Mediterranean grape varieties for premium wine production, plus 200 tonnes of a traditional grape called Pais. In 2018, the business started planting hazelnuts and now has 47 hectares that are bearing fruit for the Ferrero company. Magdalena is the General Manager in the business.
She has a degree in Agronomy and a Diploma in Marketing and Sales and is a member of the Chilean Winemakers Association and has more than 10 years of experience in the wine and viticultural sector, having worked in Chile but also in California and France. Magdalena wants to explore new techniques that other producers and countries are using to resolve issues in agriculture and share it with Chilean vintners.
"The slopes of the dry farmed viticultural areas in Chile are almost impossible for mechanization so I would like to research how are we going to deal with labour shortages? I would also like to assess how we replace herbicides without efficient mechanization and how, without irrigation, we help vines endure more frequent stressful heat conditions."
Magdalena will visit Priorat in Spain, which has similar dry farmed climatic conditions, the south of Italy, Greece, Cyprus Lebanon and South Africa.
