I am sure that most readers of this column have not experienced an earthquake close to what happened in Haiti and more recently in Chile. Canadian Derek Mossman Knapp has lived in Chile for the past 20 years. During his last 10 years in Chile, Mossman Knapp, 45, has made wine, working as founder and head of Garage Wine Company and as a member of Movimiento de Viñateros Independientes (MOVI), a small group of independent wine growers that includes a boutique winery called Gillmore, which I visited during my recent trip there.

Here is a first-hand account of his experience following the earthquake that struck southern Chile last Saturday morning. (NOTE: This account has been posted at www.movi.cl/ — where you find out more about these small independent winemakers who were the hardest hit and will be the most affected):

“Wine is not a very earthquake-proof business. It’s liquid, and however it is stored, it’s messy when the earth shakes at 8.8. Legs on stainless steel tanks buckle, barrels stacked on racks in barrel rooms teeter, crash and literally bounce. Glass bottles make a big bloody mess. The deep crimson colour all over the floor makes everything all the more surreal.

Day 1: Saturday – 3:30 am Santiago, Chile

The windows rattled, the earth moaned, then, Santiago shook hard. We grabbed the kids and rushed out of the house, crashing against the walls unable to stand up during the quake. We spent the better part of two real minutes holding on to the door-frame and the kids. Then the electricity was gone.

My wife’s Chilean earthquake reflexes soon kicked in and we swiftly filled the tub with water (now brown), found the torches/flashlights, turned off the gas and cleaned up the broken glass. Afterward, I sat outside in the car listening to the radio and realised Santiago hadn’t received the worst of it; Maule had. The epicentre was close to Cauquenes. We make an old-vine Carignan from there and have many friends in the business with old adobe cellars and homes. Then the hillside of San Cristobal behind our house slid and a dust cloud hung over the neighbourhood.

Power was restored the next morning. Highway overpasses and clover-leaves down all around Santiago were the first images on the TV. Internet came back mid-morning and twitter connected me to others. The phones were useless.

Seven is a big shake, but Santiago, for the most part, fast became a bubble of normality. On Saturday authorities asked people who were okay to stay at home. Having watched the first images of the roads on the news it was clear it wasn’t a good idea to go out in the car and be the first to discover the heaved pavement and/or a fallen overpass.

So we swam with the children in the neighbour’s pool. The pool was substantially emptied by the quake. My three-year-old’s toes didn’t touch the surface as he tried to dip his feet. Freezers had thawed in the night without power so the menu was “Angus beef before it spoils”. All the while we knew friends were having a brutal time of it. Our little lunch party next the pool was odd and distorted. I guess we were trying to be normal for the children. The earth continued to shake in aftershocks. Our minds were in Maule and Concepción with friends. No word from anyone down there. Authorities asked all to refrain from using the telephone unless absolutely necessary. We managed to e-mail dozens of friends and spoke to a few who’d heard from a few others.

At nightfall, doors were left open (so as not to jam in the event of…). The kids didn’t want to sleep.”

For more of the account visit www.movi.cl/.

Other damage

Concha y Toro, Chile’s largest winery, accounting for 24 per cent of wine exports (not including their separately owned operations at Emiliana, Maycas, Palo Alto and Cono Sur)… All employee and employee families accounted for. Of 11 total winery facilities, the three in Peumo, Lontué and Lourdes are significantly damaged. Loss will be significant.

Viña San Pedro group, Chile’s second-largest winery producer, makers of popular Chilean wines found in Jamaica like Gato Nego, 35 South and Castillio De Molina wines had losses, which are still being assessed. According to its closest estimation up to the present, the producer lost approximately 9.4 million litres of bulk wine, which is equivalent to less than 10 per cent of its annual production. Bottled wine losses are still being quantified.

Hardest hit are the small, independent wineries in the south closest to the epicentre of the quake and tsunamis like the Carignan growers and the town of Suazal.

The Chilean Embassy will be hosting a fund-raising wine tasting at Bin 26 Wine Bar in Devon House on Saturday, March 13 in aid of earthquake relief-related charities.

Cheers! Drink a Chilean wine today; a number of producers are giving their profits for the next 90 days to help victims of this devastating disaster.

Chris Reckord is an independent wine consultant who operates DeVine Wine Services with his wife Kerri-Anne. Chris & Kerri are also part-owners of Jamaica’s first and only wine-only bar — Bin 26 Wine Bar. Please send your questions and comments to creckord@gmail.com. Follow us on twitter.com/DeVineWines