Impressing the on-trade (wine sales in restaurants, bars, hotels and pubs) is key for getting consumers to try your premium wines. If the on-trade like what you’re doing, sales are much easier and Chile can look forward to a good push in premium wine sales from its results at this year’s Sommelier Wine Awards.

As one of the most important on-trade markers, this wine competition focuses entirely on on-trade wines and is judged by people in the trade – making it an important tool and accolade. This year, Chile’s wine industry ought to be chuffed as Chile took 5th position in the league table of awards and producers took away 69 medals, with one winery beating the international competition to Producer of the Year.

Undurraga winery in Colchagua scored 5 gold medals, 4 silver medals and 1 bronze and was announced as the top Producer of the Year. “Usually the winner of Producer of the Year will pick up half a dozen medals,” explained a representative from the Sommelier Wine Awards. “The most we’ve ever had is nine [by another Chilean winery, Concha y Toro in 2011]. So to see someone breaking into double figures was always going to make them a shoo-in for this award.

“Undurraga, quite simply, blew away the competition. Ten medals, half of them Gold, is a breath taking performance, but when you add in the host of special awards it’s easy to run out of superlatives.” The winery also won special awards as Critics’ Choice for their red Aliwen Reserva blend from Rapel Valley, 1 Food Match Award, 2 By The Glass Awards, and 1 Perfect Pub Quartet Award.

Undurraga wasn’t the only winery to triumph for Chile though, many other wineries shone in the competition. Concha y Toro, which had previously won the Producer of the Year, took home a very impressive 6 awards; both vinas Errázuriz and Caliterra were given an applaudable 4 awards; Carmen was given 3 awards; and Viña Chocalan won an award for their Carmenere.

All round this was an impressive triumph for Chile in a prestigious wine awards which has a great impact on the sales of premium wines in the on trade.

By Amanda Barnes

]]> http://www.winesofchile.org/2013/05/on-trade-accolades-to-boost-chiles-premium-wine-sales/feed/ 0 http://www.winesofchile.org/2013/05/communicating-the-flavour-of-chile-in-asia/ http://www.winesofchile.org/2013/05/communicating-the-flavour-of-chile-in-asia/#comments Wed, 08 May 2013 23:49:20 +0000 info@amandabarnes.co.uk http://www.winesofchile.org/?p=14351

Asia is one of the biggest growing markets for wine, but the great distance – geographically and culturally – can make it tricky for communication in wine between Chile and Asia. As well as planning to open their new office in China, Wines of Chile invited three prominent wine figures in Japan to come and visit some of the country’s beautiful wine regions and sample some of the great wines – so that they can share their experience with consumers at home.

Kunio Bansho, Editor of the country’s most prestigious wine magazine WANDS; Yusuke Nakanishi, a sommelier who has a wine school in Tokyo; and Toshifumi Nakamoto – sommelier for a three Michelin star restaurant and Director of the Japan Sommelier Association; arrived at the beginning of April with a packed agenda visiting wineries in Maipo, Colchagua, Curico and Casablanca.

The visit was a first chance for Nakanishi to visit Chile and he enjoyed putting the country into perspective by seeing it. “My impression of Chile before arriving was that it was a country by the sea and mountains,” he said, “I imagined it like this – very beautiful in nature.”

Nakamoto, who had visited some wineries in the Central Valley before, was not just impressed with the nature but also with “how modern Santiago is” and its good restaurant and wine scene. He said that there are some Chilean wines which work particularly well with Japanese food pairings: “I love Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon with grilled eel and teriyaki sauce.” This time around he was hoping to taste some cool climate and coastal wines to bring back to Japan.

Nakanishi also agreed that Chilean wine is very good for food pairings: “Chilean wine is a food friendly wine,” he explained talking about his wine pupils’ reactions to tastings. “People like a fruity wine that doesn’t have tannins that are too strong.” Before coming Nakanishi had said that he was most interested in seeing Chile’s Pinot Noirs, which are especially versatile for food pairings.

For Kunio Bansho this was by no means his first visit to Chile, and as a veteran of visiting Chilean wine country – more than 20 times – he loves to return to check out anything new. “Every year it changes a lot and you can find new vineyards,” he says. “From this visit I’ve learnt about the new region Malleco, and next time I want to go there! And I want to go to the North towards San Pedro. And the following year you’ll probably find new regions – there’s still a lot of space for more vineyards, especially in the coastal zones.”

As Chile diversifies into planting in different regions, its market and wine drinkers are also diversifying – even to the shores of Japan.

By Amanda Barnes

Photos  taken by Amanda Barnes of the Japanese visit to Vina Aquitania in Alto Maipo.

Even rap stars need to take some time out to smell the roses, or the vines in this case. When world-renowned hip hop artist NAS came to Chile last week for music fest Lollapalooza, he couldn’t resist taking some down time to enjoy some of Chile’s great wine.

Visiting VIK winery in the Colchagua Valley with 7 of his band mates, he tweeted to his 1,074,128 followers that he ‘had the best time’ and felt ‘rejuvenated’ after his visit. Located in Millahue, VIK winery was established in 2006 by Norwegian Alexander Vik who selected Colchagua’s fine terroir for making high quality wines.

Nasir Bin Olu Dara Jones (shortened to NAS) is one of the most influential hip-hop artists of his time, selling over 13 million albums in the US. Chile’s Tourism Department hope that this will boost Chile’s cool rep abroad.

“Within our strategy of promoting international tourism this year we have incorporated visits from different leaders of opinion or leading voices in social networks so that through them they will communicate the tourism attractions of Chile,” said Sub Secretary of Tourism Jacqueline Plass.

Hopefully these Chilean vines and wines will inspire some rap rhymes for NAS in the future!

By Amanda Barnes

Chile’s wine community was well represented on the other side of the globe at the three day wine trade fair, Prowein, in Dusseldorf, Germany, recently. Wines of Chile had a section at the well renowned wine fair with 50 producers from the country showing their wines and offering tastings to trade visitors from all over the world.

The fair (from 24th to 26th March) has been hailed as a success with a 6% increase on visitor numbers from last year reaching over 44,000 visitors from 48 countries over the three packed days of networking.

The importance of being present in these international forums is not underestimated and Wines of Chile’s representatives were in full force at the trade fair with trained sommeliers specially hired to help tell the story of Chilean wine as visitors tasted a great variety of wines on offer.

“Prowein was an excellent fair, we received many new importers and all of the vineyards were very satisfied,” said Alvaro Arriagada, Europe Area Manager for Wines of Chile, who was representing WOC at the event. 

This year Wines of Chile united with Wines of Argentina, Wines of Uruguay and Wines of South Africa to present ‘Flavours of the South’ and combine efforts to make a real impact for wines from the southern regions of the New World. 

This year the fair was expanded over two more exhibition halls to offer more space to show a global range of wine within one trade fair. “ProWein gives you the opportunity to see the whole world of wine in one location and at the same time to discover many new producers and products – that’s like heaven for a professional like me!” said Joshua Wesson from New York ProWein. “I’m already looking forward to ProWein 2014.”

Chilean wineries in attendance were: William Cole Vineyards; San Esteban; Estampa; Anakena; Enolia Fine Wines; Junta Winery; Indómita; Casas del Bosque; Viñedos De Aguirre; Vinos del Sur; Santa Alicia; Viu Manent; Morande; Vistamar; Viña Pérez Cruz – Casa Marín; Apaltagua; Botalcura; Bisquertt; Matetic; Los Boldos; Casas Patronales; Quintay – Loma Larga; Valle Secreto; Odfjell; La Rosa; El Principal; Siegel; J. Bouchon; Maquis – Calcu; Tres Palacios; Casa Donoso; Luis Felipe Edwards; Montgras; Valdivieso; Koyle; Veramonte; Casas del Toqui; Santa Ema; Garcés Silva; Kupal Wines; Dos Andes; Cremaschi Furlotti; Terraustral Wine Company; Teillery; Hugo Casanova Wines; MOVI Villard / Polkura; San José de apalta; and Chilean Wine company. 

Prowein 2014 will be held from 23rd – 25th March.

By Amanda Barnes

Photographed: Anita Jackson from the UK office of Wines of Chile, and Wines of Chile Manager Claudio Cilveti

Everyone knows that the Chinese speak a different language. Surprisingly though, most wineries and distributors assume that translating their tasting notes only requires a word for word translation to Cantonese. It actually requires a lot more.

Language is rich with cultural references. While in Chile some of us may struggle to get to grips with how a lychee tastes, imagine the quandary in China when wine drinkers are presented with descriptors of flavours they have never tasted nor imagined: strawberry, blackberry, gooseberry etc are all fruits which aren’t widely accessible in China and you can forget completely describing a wine with aromas manjar or merken.

Tasting notes and marketing in China need to not only be translated into Mandarin or Cantonese but also into a wine language they understand. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal entitled ‘Lost in Translation: The Lingo for Tasting Wine’  cited tasting notes by Christie’s auction house for a Pinot Noir from Burgundy, culturally translated into Chinese:

“There are fragrant aromas of dates, Chinese herbal medicine and Chiuchow master stock, enhanced by sweet, fruity and lasting tastes, with even a hint of the sweetness of dang gui. This can be drunk now for its fruity flavor, or aged for another 20-30 years. Best to pair with crispy barbecue pork.” 

See how alien the tasting notes would seem to someone who hasn’t lived in China? It’s the same principal.

But all is not lost for Chilean vintners hoping to break into the fifth largest consumer market in the world. Judge for this year’s Annual Wines of Chile Awards Fong Yee Walker says that you just need to remove the cultural descriptors and think more universally. “Use more words like refreshing or rich, words that don’t require a cultural context,” the Chinese wine educator recommends. As well as careful translation of words, she also advises that wineries translate their packaging correctly too: “Make sure you have a good Chinese name and good Chinese labeling.”

One of the best ways to get your tasting notes just right is to not just with a native language translator, but someone who is native to the tastes of China.

By Amanda Barnes

To read the WSJ article on translating tasting notes for the Chinese market, follow this link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324735304578354481799586190.html?mg=id-wsj

A world-renowned photographer is portraying Chile’s wine world in a new light. Former rock and skateboard photographer Matt Wilson might be the bad boy of wine photography, but his emotive pictures are certainly turning heads and gaining him accolades along the way.

The winner of the Born Digital Photography Wine Award 2012, has a refreshing approach to wine photography which moves away from staid barrel room portraits and tired landscape shots, instead focusing more on the characters of wine, the color of the landscapes and he frequently gets a winemaker to smash a bottle of wine against his head.

What’s the difference between photographing wine and rock ‘n’ roll? Not that much it turns out. “Wine is a lifestyle, and rock and roll is a lifestyle!” says Matt who also travelled the world with Hip Hop groups like The Roots, Mos Def and Method Man. Matt likes to photograph animated subjects though, and he does admit “musicians tend to be more animated than your average winemaker.”

But the wine world is changing, and it isn’t just Chile that is starting to shake off the old conservative image of wine. “It’s now about the Millennials,” says Matt commenting on the new interest in wine and buying power of young consumers. “Wine is becoming more accessible to young people.”

Wine has also become cool again. Celebrities like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are doing it, footballers like Messi are doing it, even Metallica have their own sommelier on tour. The appeal of Chile for Millennials, Matt believes, is not far behind. “I think it is a young person’s country,” says Matt. “There’s so much adventure to do here: the Atacama, mountains, skiing, rafting…”

Through his photography he is trying to show that side of Chile to the world. As the ‘go-to’ guy for Decanter, Wine Spectator and numerous other wine publications, Matt is representing the country on an international scale. As well as portraying real characters of winemaking, he specializes in documenting the manual workers and the reality of winemaking, deep in the vines. His down and dirty approach often leads him to discover some unsung heroes of the wine world. When shooting at a historical winery in Maipo he started chatting to a vineyard worker who had been working there 50 years and that was his last day before retirement. “I just suddenly thought that this guy was older than me and had worked his entire life in that vineyard… I like showing the pride in people.” The portrait of his well worn but proud face was unfortunately lost in the earthquake, but similar portraits of vineyard workers are key in his wine photography portfolio and one of the reasons he won the the Born Digital Award.

As well as focusing on the real workers of the vines, Matt photographs the vineyards and typical wine situations, but often in a slightly new light – bringing the action into the foreground. “Matt’s style is so brilliantly bold it’s like a hairdryer blasting rock music into the face of an ant,” says wine expert Olly Smith about the photographer. 

From the experienced hands of grape pickers and the stunning vineyard landscapes to the bottle smashing and cheeky portraits, Matt is showing Chile’s wine country through a different lens.

By Amanda Barnes

 A small producer portrait

A vineyard landscape

A devastated worker after the Earthquake

Huasos in the countryside

Tending old vines

To see more of Matt’s wine photography visit www.mattwilson.cl

Photos used are copyright of Matt Wilson, please seek permission if you wish to use them.

There is so much to discover within the enviable stretch of Chilean wine country. With wine production areas that span 1200 kms in length and the entire width of the country (on average 175km), the prospect can be a bit overwhelming for a newbie. Three friends created a dedicated wine space in the heart of Santiago to create a platform for the breadth of Chilean ‘vino’ and their accessible approach to wine tasting is attracting tourists and new wine drinkers as well as seasoned oenophiles.

“The idea of Bocanariz was to have a place in the middle of Santiago that was a showroom for Chilean wine,” says winemaker and owner Katherine Hidalgo, who started the restaurant with friends Daniela Lorenzo and Jerome Reynes. “We always thought if Chile was a wine producing country, when people come here why is there nowhere to try wine by the glass?”

Taking inspiration from other wine capitals across the globe, they opened Bocanariz in 2012 currently offering 35 wines by the glass (including icon wines) and 327 by the bottle. This is also a unique space to do wine tasting flights with different regions and producers, vertical tastings from different vintages and the food menu with Chilean and international dishes is designed specifically for playing with food pairings from different flavor groups like creamy, light, sweet and sour, salty, stewed and sweet. The sommelier-trained staff help guide you through the art of pairing Chilean wine with a kaleidoscope of flavors. “Chilean wine is principally for exportation and we receive a lot of tourism here so we want to show that Chilean wine goes well with recipes from all over the world,” explains Katherine.

There is still nothing quite like getting out to a winery and visiting the true terroirs of Chile, but Santiago is certainly becoming a fun place to quaff the odd glass and offers options to try lots of Chilean wine under one roof. With wines taken from coastal, cordillera and Andes regions from North to South as well as diverse varieties such as Carignan, Pais and Riesling, Bocanariz boasts a great taste of Chilean wine country without leaving the bar stool!

By Amanda Barnes

Other wine by glass recommendations in Santiago:

• Baco Vino y Bistro: Santa Magdalena 113, Providencia
• Le Bistrot, Santa Magdalena 80, Patio del Sol, Providencia
• Bocanariz is located the city centre, Jose Victorino Lastarria 276, www.bocanariz.cl

Do you have a favorite wine bar in Chile? Tweet us your suggestions at @WinesofChile!

To learn more about Chilean wine visit our wine regions page or see our individual members websites.

What do you most enjoy about being a sommelier?
I meet a lot of people from around the world. That, for me, is amazing!

What is the hottest trend in Chilean wine right now?
We are trying to make wine lower in alcohol, not with too much oak and with more freshness. I think we are trying to make wines that are not too heavy.

You advise a lot of people what to drink with their dinner, what do foreigners most enjoy drinking here?
It depends on the season. In the summer they drink more white wine and Pinot Noir but of course there are the classic people who always just want to drink Cabernet Sauvignon!

What is your top all round pairing wine, a no fail option?
I would say Carmenere is a very versatile wine. It’s a great variety with a medium body, so you can go with stronger structured or lower structured food. Carmenere is in the middle, you can pair it up or down, with lighter or heavier dishes.

What is your favorite food and wine pairing of all?
I love oysters. My favorite pairing is a Chilean Sauvignon Blanc with oysters, a coastal Sauvignon Blanc of course.

You are an expert in water and about to publish your third book on it, what is water tasting all about and how did you get into it?
For my thesis I decided to find all the bottled water we produce in Chile and all that we import and I did a blind tasting with winemakers, chefs and journalists with sommeliers.
When you try to find the difference between one water and another it is the place the water comes from. In the north it rains barely twice a year, so you have a lot of minerals and you feel the calcareous soil in your nose and mouth, it has more structure and concentration. In the south where it rains three times a week you have the soil cleaning itself out regularly which makes a more balanced water which is not too hard. When you have that difference with soils, weather and geographical area you can find the difference between the waters.

How do you taste water?
It’s the same way to wine – you see the water, you smell the water and you taste the water. You follow the same steps for wine. You chose a water with a low minerality for light food, medium minerality for medium structured food, and for high minerality water you need dishes with more structure.

Who are your wine heroes?
Gerard Bassett. I was working with him for 6 months, and I love him, he’s an amazing guy. He’s one of the biggest references in the wine world.

If you could have one person for dinner, alive or dead, who would it be and what would you serve them?
I think Jancis Robinson. I think she’s one of the most interesting wine journalists and because I can ask her about everything and she can tell me everything. I would serve Chilean oysters with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc and then something very typical from Chile -a pastel de choclo with a classic Carmenere. Then another classic Chilean dessert, torta hojarasca, with a classic pisco aged in oak.

In the end, what really matters?
My son, of course.

Whatever you call Pedro Parra, don’t call him Dr. Terroir. “I hate that name!” he says about the nickname he’s unwillingly accrued. “I promise I won’t refer to you as Dr Terroir in the article then,” I offer, afraid I’ve touched a nerve. “No, do! Write that I hate it so people will stop calling me that!”

Chile’s terroir specialist, the first in the Americas to do a PhD in terroir, is not what you would expect. When you think of PhDs, soil profiles and specialists your imagination concocts an image of scientists surrounded by test tubes and beakers. Parra is anything but. “Terroir is more about intuition,” he explains, “it is not important for a wine whether it is planted over granite or clay etc… The important thing is to taste the wine. The wine should talk more than the person.” In fact his first approach to consulting for a winery usually involves drinking wine over dinner with the owner to work out their taste in wine. Then he’ll find out if the terroir can produce it.

Parra’s maverick approach to terroir and the importance of tasting the wine throughout the process has given him a legion of disciples across the globe and he is one of a handful of terroir specialists inspiring a new generation of winemakers. Chile, and the New World in general, is shifting its winemaking focus from the winery to the mud in the vineyards. This is the ‘rise of terroir’ and it’s the latest buzzword for wine drinkers.

Parra explains that this is an exciting time for Chile. Although the exploration of terroir is relatively new (“we only have ten years compared to France’s 500”) he believes that new winemakers are being born with a notion of terroir deep inside them. “The new generation in Chile is fantastic, they are born with terroir in here,” he says motioning towards his head, “the next step is to put terroir in the heart. The new generation will bring it from the heart.”

Parra, who was born in Concepcion, rather fell into the profession by chance. He had studied forestry but hated it and so started working in precision agriculture technologies. After getting married he realized he needed to start earning more money to support a family and so decided to get a PhD. By luck, coincidence and “some very supportive friends” he ended up in France studying with the great masters of terroir (and the only other students of terroir in the world). It wasn’t a labor of love at first, rather a labor for his love – working hard to improve his earning ability and prove himself as a worthy husband. After years of studying though, it finally clicked. He began to love wine and started studying out of passion to learn more. “I wanted to understand everything, it wasn’t about my PhD. It was because I love it. That changed my way of seeing the problem.” He says it took him his PHD into the science of terroir to learn that terroir was not a science at all. “Terroir is about interpretation and passion and patience.”

And patience terroir studies certainly do take. Typically Parra will consult to a winery for a few years to help “open the window” so their own winemakers can understand what’s going on below the ground and how that might affect what is happening above it. The makeup of the soil (amounts of clay, sand, stones, limestone, oxygenation, root depth) will affect the tannins, aromas and minerality. Digging out large clay pits to profile the soil is essential, but so is tasting the wine that comes from it – year after year. “Today if you look as a scientist you can sometimes see a bad terroir but the wine is fantastic,” he says, “there’s always a lot of surprises.” Parra estimates you can pretty much guess the sort of wine a terroir will produce nine times out of ten, but there is always that 10% which just surprises you completely. He is the first to admit that in the past he has underestimated new vine growing spots that have since yielded great results. This is what makes terroir fun and, for terroir hunters around the world, addictive.

Chile in this sense is a massive playground for winemakers. With a huge diversity ranging from coastal climates to volcanic rock to vineyards at altitude, Chile has a huge kaleidoscope of terroirs to play with. Wines of Chile recently launched a marketing campaign differentiating three main terroir regions of Chile: Coastal, Cordillera and Andes; and while these three still encompass an enormous spectrum of different terroirs, Parra agrees that – for now – the message needs to be kept simple for consumers. “In Chile the Coastal regions and Andes are very unique,” comments Parra adding that in the next decade the focus needs to be on communicating the main regions. “Then little by little we can explain very special places.”

Parra believes there are many special places in Chile. He talks passionately about the “stoney, deep volcanic soils” of the Andes regions which create great volume in the mouth which he particularly likes for Chardonnay, and has favorite spots in coastal regions as well as Cordillera regions for other wines and terroirs. “Chile has so much diversity we can focus on lots of situations,” he comments.

However for him, what really counts is the culture surrounding the terroir. “Terroir can be similar around the world but the culture and way it is cultivated is different,” he explains. One of the regions that is really exciting him at the moment is Itata, a coastal range 450kms south of Santiago. “Old vines were planted by monks and farmers 200 years ago, it’s a fantastic place,” he says with eyes lit up like a young child. “You will see a poor farmer working with a horse to improve the soil as his father taught him. This is what wine is about: passion and terroir. It is unique, you may or may not like it, it is made by a man without teeth to sell to local people – but they are producing outstanding wines.”

“I have my own conclusions about what is a good terroir for wine. It depends on how man can play the tune between these things.”

Parra has become the band leader for many winemakers across the New World and his tune is certainly a welcome one in Chile whose new generation of winemakers is more and more excited by the rich foundations of their native land. When it comes to Chilean terroir, one has just barely begun to scratch the surface, and having international expert Parra at the helm of many terroir investigations is a very exciting prospect.

To explore different terroirs, visit our pages on the different wine regions of Chile

When people talk of Chile, they often talk of the ‘New World’. While compared to Europe, Chile may still be ‘new’ in terms of winemaking, there are great examples of family winemaking passing through consecutive generations, protecting a strong heritage and a rich history of winemaking.

Some of Chile’s first wines were made in the Maipo region and it is here where the oldest family-run winery is located. Established in 1856, Cousiño Macul is now run by the sixth generation of the Cousiño family: brothers Arturo, Carlos and Emilio.

Since its establishment, like many of the historical wineries in the area (Santa Rita est. 1880; Concha y Toro est. 1883) it has witnessed great changes in Maipo over the last 150 years. “When Cousiño Macul started, we were outside of Santiago, there was no city around us,” commented Veronica Cousiño, daughter of Carlos. “Today, our Macul Estate is almost in the middle of Santiago, you can get here by metro, taxi or even a bus!”

The urbanization of Maipo was part of the reason for the region’s rapid growth at the time. While also blessed with good vine growing conditions, the ease of transport links and quick connection time to the capital led to more rapid development of the area. For visitors, these wineries are an ideal day trip from the city center – taking less than an hour to move from the bustle of the capital to the tranquility of the vines.

Although the land surrounding the wineries and vineyards has changed its shape, winemaking still runs through the pulse of the valley. Maipo’s terroir is ideal for producing red varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot and the region is home to some of Chile’s most renowned wines.

Strong family heritage is part of the motivation to continue improving on excellence for a number of wineries. “The advantages of working with my family are many…,” says Veronica Cousiño, “the first one is the fact that I’m working for something that is really meaningful to me, being taught by my Father and Uncles is a very nice thing for me too.”

The importance of family and history is visible throughout a visit to Cousiño Macul: from the family portraits adorning the walls, to the wines named after late family members, to a museum of old wine making technology and a wine library of each harvest.

Its long history informs parts of the winemaking too, with the fortune of Luis Cousiño having brought pre-phylloxera vines from France that still grow in the vineyards today. Some historical techniques (although in a more modern shell) like the vertical press are still used for premium lines in the winery.

Although heritage and tradition are a strong part in the identity of Chilean winemaking in this region, that does not mean that Maipo has been left in the past. Innovation is also key to winemakers here and most family wineries have broadened their horizons to buying vineyards or grapes from outside the smaller family plot and importing top of the range technology.

Modern technology has been key to advances in quality. “Ever since its establishment, Cousiño-Macul has been introducing leading winemaking technology,” adds Veronica. “For Cousiño-Macul, innovation is heritage. Innovation is the way to be able to have a business for 150 years and be thinking in the future.”

Inevitably part of the success of long-running family wineries like this is also in their loyalty to a style of wine and reflection of the terroir. This confidence in style and the legacy of historical winemaking families is a message Chile is starting to communicate to the world to show that although new and innovative, it is also historically rich for such a ‘young’ winemaking country. “I think that having wineries like Concha y Toro, Santa Rita, Cousiño-Macul, etc. that were established in the 19th century is a great tool for showing our winemaking history,” concluded Veronica.

With so many of Chile’s wineries still supported by traditional winemaking families, the heritage of winemaking will continue to be inherited by future generations.

By Amanda Barnes

For more information on the Maipo wine region, visit here.

To visit Cousiño Macul and find out more information about the winery, visit their web page here.  

Photos taken of Cousiño Macul winery in January 2013 by Amanda Barnes