Marcelo Papa has an enviable job. He's winemaker for several of the lines at Concha y Toro, Chile's biggest wine company. Its portfolio stretches from Frontera, whose chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon and merlot sell on supermarket shelves for $9 per magnum, to the august Don Melchor, perhaps Chile's best cabernet sauvignon, at $50 a bottle.

So of course he wants to change things.

Most of Concha y Toro's wines come from Rapel, Maipo, Casablanca and other regions around Santiago in central Chile. These are relatively warm areas, famous for well-ripened grapes.

Papa has persuaded his company to start a winery 300 miles north in the Limarí region. It's semi-arid, almost desert, and cool, chilled by its position only six miles inland from the Pacific Ocean and its frigid Humboldt Current.

He's putting out a new line of wines called Maycas di Limarí, a chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, syrah and cabernet sauvignon.

``We came to Limarí for the quality of the chardonnay,'' he says. ``Maipo [in central Chile] chardonnays are too sweet, too tropical. I want a chardonnay that's more like the white wines of Burgundy.

``White wines from Limarí are salty, minerally and austere,'' Papa says. ``They're delicate, so we work gently with them. The sauvignon blanc gets no oak aging; it's made entirely in stainless steel tanks. We try to get the minerality of the soil.''

The soil of Limarí is a layer of clay over limestone. Once there, Papa branched naturally into another white wine, sauvignon blanc.

``Then I started to see that other planters there were making excellent syrahs. So I tried that.''

The cab was an afterthought.

``I didn't think we needed a cabernet sauvignon. But customers told me that Chile is famous for cabernet sauvignon, so you have to make one.''

Limarí is a bit cool for cabernet sauvignon, so Papa plants it 25 miles inland. It's a leaner, more austere Bordeaux style rather than a rich, ripe California cab, he says.

Papa looks forward to blending Limarí wines into other Concha y Toro lines.

``In the next few years Limarí wines will have a big effect on all Concha y Toro wines,'' he says.

HIGHLY

RECOMMENDED

• 2008 Maycas de Limarí Sauvignon Blanc Reserva Especial, Limarí Valley, Chile: light, crisp, delicate and lean, with hints of white pepper and minerals; $23.

• 2006 Maycas de Limarí Syrah Reserva Especial, Limarí Valley, Chile: deep purple color; intense mulberry aromas and licorice flavors; very smooth; crisp acids; $23.

RECOMMENDED

• 2007 Maycas de Limarí Chardonnay Reserva Especial, Limarí Valley, Chile: white grapefruit aroma; intense flavors of cinnamon and minerals; very rich; $23.

• 2007 Concha y Toro Casillero del Diablo Cabernet Sauvignon/Syrah, Maipo and Rapel Valleys, Chile: black cherry and maraschino cherry aromas and flavors; rich and ripe; $17.

• 2007 Concha y Toro Marqués de Casa Concha Carmenere, Rapel and Peumo vineyards, Chile: licorice and clove aromas and flavors; smooth and full-bodied; $21.

• 2005 Maycas de Limarí Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva Especial, Limarí Valley, Chile: black cherries and minerals; smooth; warm acids; $23.

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