There are some wine markets that are pretty unique in the world, Nova Scotia is one of them. An island province on the East coast of Canada, they have quite a large young population and are quite densely populated. Alcohol is almost exclusively sold by the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation (NSCL), typical of the Canadian monopoly system.

Last week Wines of Chile invited the NSCL to visit some of the wineries in the country, tuck into some regional cuisine and dip their toes in the cooling waters of the Pacific. I spoke to Glenda Williams, Category Manager of New World Wine, and Tim Pellerin, Head of Marketing and Merchandising, to find out a bit more about this enigmatic market.

Nova Scotia like most of Canada has a monopoly market. How does selecting wines for the NSCL work? 

Tim: We are a crown corporation with an arms length partnership with our shareholder, the government. We purchase wines on the behalf of our customer. Like any good retailer we look at price point, quality of the wine, the profile, current performance, future potential and look to be on the leading edge of consumer trends.

What’s unique about the monopoly markets in Canada? 

Glenda: We have opportunities to buy a diverse selection of wines, from the large volume to boutique production.

And what’s unique about Nova Scotia in its market profile?

Tim: The difference in Nova Scotia is that we have the oldest province in Canada yet we have the third youngest population. So we have an ingrained beer and spirit culture. We are attempting to grow our wine category and the demographic gives us an opportunity to grow our premium wine category. In simple terms, we have less people with more money who buy better!

Are there advantages for producers to be listed on a monopoly?

Tim: Monopolies buy a lot of wine and pay their bills on time… In Canada it is a crown jewel to be listed on a monopoly.

What wines and styles are popular there?

Tim: It’s changing, and pretty dramatically, we are seeing a wave of the trend to slightly sweeter wines in red and white. Californian blends in red are gaining a lot of popularity at premium price points. On whites, it’s fresh aromatic whites.

What Chilean wines are successful in Nova Scotia at the moment?

Glenda: Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot for the reds, and Sauvignon Blanc for whites.

Tim: Sauvignon Blanc – the grassier, herby ones – is a very polarising grape, it is a love hate relationship in Nova Scotia. Popularity is definitely growing on the Chardonnay side though. And it’s been nice to see some Sauvignon Blanc on the lees this week, making creamier, rounded wines.

Do you have any advice to Chilean wineries wanting to market themselves or sell in Canada?

Glenda: Last year we started to tell the story of regionality but I think that people are still confused.

Tim: Many wineries are going regional in focus and sub regional in focus but our customer is not ready for that. You need to tell Chile’s story first.

What has been interesting to see in Chile? 

Tim: The diversity of climates from travelling around vineyards, from the peaks and valleys to the coastal regions.

And in terms of wine?

Glenda:  I am a Chilean wine fan. The style is everything I expected. What’s surprised me most is that there’s not been much of a large stretch in quality. It would be hard to find a bad wine. The quality/value ratio here is better than most countries.

Have you got any favourite Chilean wine pairings?

Glenda: Lobster is my favourite and I would definitely have a Chilean Chardonnay with it. The Pinot Noirs are light enough though with a great acidity for Salmon dishes, and the Sauvignon Blanc with white fish or scallops.

And any favourite foods tried here?

Tim: The avocado! Have you ever tried avocado better than this? I cannot eat avocado from home again!

What have you most liked about this trip?

Glenda: The culture, the people, the food and of course the wine!

 By Amanda Barnes

Photo of NSLC visitors with Allyson  Silva from Wines of Chile

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.

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.

Amanda Barnes interviews him to find out how it was tasting with a world of different palates and how 2013 compared to the previous years he has judged.

How did the tastings go this year?

We were in three teams with one Chilean judge in each so we could give some explanation to the others [Asian judges]. We didn’t teach them, just explained some things [eg. typicity of varieties and regions] and we always learn from others too. They look at wines in an international [view].

What was it like judging alongside Asian palates?

There was much less than 2% difference [in point scoring]. It indicated an international tendency. In some cases we had a disagreement over a wine and discussed why we disagreed. Our disagreements were a lot fewer than we expected. Generally we agreed.

Have you noticed any changes this year compared to previous years you have judged?

In 2004 there were more extracted wines, more oak and concentration. They [the Asian judges] are now looking for Chilean wines with just a bit of oak. They noted that the oak was barely noticeable, they were more balanced, had more fruit and more elegance. There was a great quality of Sauvignon Blanc and of Chardonnay. Syrah is also much more of an actor, we have a world class Syrah.

What is exciting about Chilean wines now?

I think the wines are beginning to have a sense of belonging, a personal identity.

Hector Vergara formed part of the judging panel for the Annual Wines of Chile Awards 2013. To see the results of trophy winners click here.

What has been interesting for you while tasting wine here in Chile?

The Syrah seems to be of very high standard. The Pinot Noirs have also been very good – nice fruit and good balance. When you look at the price compared to New Zealand, it was amazing. The Chardonnay has been very smart as well. It’s been a very nice surprise to get rid of the greenness in wines.

What is important to remember when marketing to China?

Be careful with your labeling, make sure you have a good chinese name and good chinese labeling. Use more words like refreshing or rich, words that don’t require a cultural context.

You were once crowned as ‘best blind taster’ at your university, what is your top tip for blind tasting wines?

Don’t do it!

Is it a natural born talent or can you train in taste?

You can train in it. It’s very rare to get students who can’t taste. It’s easier to train Chinese people than English people. Chinese beginners understand acid and sugar balance from the beginning.

What would be your ideal Chilean wine pairing with Chinese food?

The wine that impressed me and I’d like to take to Szechwan is the Casa Marin Riesling. That was bloody nice… A lot of Chinese food has high Umami content so you can’t pair it with tannic red. Chile’s Pinot Noir would be a great pairing too. Pinot Noir goes well with Chinese food.

Fong Yee Walker formed part of the judging panel for the Annual Wines of Chile Awards 2013. To see the results of trophy winners click here.

What wines have you found interesting while tasting during your visit to Chile?

It’s been amazing, we have tried 615 wines and I am very happy to taste a lot of good red, especially the blends, Carmenere and Syrah. The Syrah is not traditional. All of them are so fantastic.

What Chilean wines are popular in Japan? And what will be in the future?

The Cabernet Sauvignon is [currently] popular in Japan and it has a nickname… ‘Chile Cabe’, it means Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon. We are starting to drink more white wine and so Sauvignon Blanc [will be popular], the price is very reasonable and the quality is very high. Sauvignon Blanc is very good for sushi and tempura.

You are also a trained mathematician, is wine a calculated science or an art?

We Japanese are told that wine is a more cultural drink, not just to drink alcohol. You have to have it with good food. I like Mathematics but when I changed to wine it was a lot of fun compared to looking at numbers!

What is the hottest wine trend in Japan right now?

Champagne.

Could Chilean sparkling wine have some success?

Our consumer image is still normally only French champagne. We did taste some sparkling wines here [at AWOCA], only six. If you start making high quality sparkling wine, maybe.

Yumi Tanabe formed part of the judging panel for the Annual Wines of Chile Awards 2013. To see the results of trophy winners click here.

Rex Pickett’s novel Sideways was not even attached to a publisher when it was first laid on the desk of director Alexander Payne. Whatsmore, the story of Miles and Jack – two fortysomething wine enthusiasts tackling personal anguish in California’s picturesque wine country – hardly met a formula that satisfied those Hollywood production houses keen on sure-things over authenticity.

So when the movie grossed over US$100 million worldwide and brought in 350 awards including an Oscar for best screenplay, Pickett was more surprised than anyone.

“It was something I was completely unprepared for,” Pickett told ProChile. “And its influence was not limited to the movie industry. Sideways made wine hip again. Beer was no longer people’s adult drink of choice – for the first time in more than a decade, wine was topping preference polls.”

The movie caused a direct rise in wine sales in the U.S. and the U.K., with Pinot Noir experiencing a huge 16 percent increase in sales. Chile could be next in line to experience the “Sideways Effect,” as Pickett is unleashing his characters across Chilean wine country in the series’ latest book.

“After Vertical (the second book in the series), I felt like Miles had sucked the marrow out of the U.S. Pacific Coast,” Pickett said. “He and I needed somewhere new to explore, so when Mario Velasco (of Chilean production company Magallanica) contacted me about coming to Chile, it seemed like the perfect fit.”

Pickett is in his first weeks of a four month research trip, sponsored by Wines of Chile, that will see him sipping and writing his way through Chilean wine country, or “Wine’s last frontier” as he calls it.

“I’m so excited to really get going. I’ve already met so many interesting people who are doing such creative things in winemaking, stuff I’ve never seen before,” Pickett said.

“I can’t wait to get out to Maipo Valley, as well as Casablanca, Elqui and Maule Valley, and Colchagua. The diverse microclimates, the rich volcanic soils, and the creativity of the winemakers here all contribute to the outstanding level and number of quality wines there are in this country.”

To follow Rex on his journey, visit the blog he will be regularly updating, Rex in Chile.

Mariana Martinez (photo courtesy of Mariana Martinez)

For wine journalist and Planetavino editor Mariana Martinez, certain exquisite experiences in life are priceless.

Like savoring shellfish with Sauvignon Blanc by the seashore in her adopted country, Chile.

“There is not a culinary pleasure bigger than that. Just go to a fish market at the beach, buy your fresh seafood, take it home, cook it by yourself, prepare it as you please, and uncork Chilean wine and enjoy … And if you are in front of the beach, it’s just fantastic.”

Argentinean-born Martinez was raised in Uruguay, earned a Communications degree in Caracas, Venezuela, and worked as a model in Europe for one year, before settling in Chile, where she studied for a wine diploma at Santiago’s Andrés Bello University and then became a professional Sommelier.

Taking a simple wine class to guide tours in the Maule Valley inspired Martinez to learn about wine – a harmonious progression, given her prior interest in agronomy, photography and nature. A subsequent job as an assistant for a Chilean sommelier led to a position as webmaster for Planetavino, paving the way for a successful career communicating her passion for wine.

“It was this movement of life that you cannot see,” she reflects, “but it’s all very well planned … You don’t know what it means in the moment, but then … you see backwards and you see why things happened.”

In Martinez’s case, she sees clearly now that it was this movement of life that brought her to a natural paradise in Chile, where she happily enjoys every opportunity to immerse herself in beautiful landscapes, from the country’s northern deserts to southern glacial lakes:

“I love the sea, all the seacoast … I just love the nature. I love the north, San Pedro de Atacama. I love the south, the lakes, it’s so beautiful. La Cordillera, I love La Cordillera, it’s just amazing. All the dry farming – “secano” – from the south, everywhere you see, it’s just so unique.”

Continues Martinez, “I prefer to take my own pictures and I love to travel, so those were the things I liked to do, and life gave me a way to have all of them in my work. I wanted to work in the nature, I love plants, and that’s what I do now. I love to visit the vineyards, talk with the people, take pictures, learn about what they are doing.”

In addition to perpetually learning on the job, Martinez adores working as a wine educator and familiarizing her students with the intricacies of wine. As Chief of Education for Chilean wine superstore Mundo del Vino, she hosts classes for company employees and consumers, along with a variety of tastings and events.

Due to her Argentinean heritage, Martinez occasionally finds herself in the midst of the friendly rivalry between two prominent South American wine industries. Each year she organizes a blind tasting of Chilean and Argentinean wines with a friend from Argentina, selecting the Chilean wines for the tastings and always cheering for Chile.

“I just want Chile to win,” she enthuses. “I’ve been here in the industry for twelve years now, so I really want Chile to succeed!”

And Chile is well on the way to success, both in the industry and in the vineyards, according to Martinez.

As a sommelier, she is especially pleased about the increasing popularity of the country’s sparkling wines as an aperitif over the previously-favored sugar- and alcohol-laden pisco sour. She also hopes to see more restaurants offering by-the-glass wine pairing with each course at meals.

Furthermore, Martinez compares the evolution of Chilean winemaking to Europe’s longstanding viticulture, pointing out that the recent generations of Chile’s vintners were born and raised among the family vines, giving them a distinct passion for winemaking, innovation and quality that is evident in the bottle.

“I think that’s great because that’s what you see in Europe – 10 generations, 5 generations ahead,” she notes. “For [European winemakers] there is no other way to live. So they really have to protect the land. It’s something that they do for the next generation.

“When they plant, they plant for the next generation, not for them,” Martinez continues. “That’s something that we have to learn [in Chile], and I think that’s very interesting, that it’s happening, because it’s moving and it’s making people think different, take more care, and be more passionate at the same time.”

As an ardent nature-lover, Martinez commends the Chilean wine industry’s initiatives towards responsible agriculture and sustainability.

“The most delicate resource that Chile has is the nature,” she says.

And since nature produces Chile’s inimitable terroirs, the land is an especially precious resource for the country’s wineries.

“The nature gives the uniqueness to the wines,” urges Martinez. “When you really want wines to express place, you need time, you need passion … we have done a lot; we have progressed a lot in 30 years …

“Because we have done so much, [I know] we are going to do much more. We are just learning. We are in a progress, a work in progress, that’s why it’s so exciting – it’s moving, it’s alive, very alive, and you can say that it’s a little baby, it’s doing great things, but once it will [be an adult] and balanced, be prepared, because it’s going to be great. I think it’s fantastic!”

Like Martinez’s meaningful life path – which pulled her to a central position from which to observe and experience Chile’s growth in this exciting period of transition – the Chilean wine industry is building a history and a worldwide legacy that will one day be recorded, recognized and understood with a backward gaze.

Mariana Martinez is participating in this legacy by telling Chile’s story as it happens, through her ongoing work as a wine journalist with a singular voice and zealous appetite for her job.

In addition to communicating through Planetavino and other media outlets and tasting venues, Martinez plans to return to radio broadcasting next year with a new show about Chilean wine. She also hopes to produce a second edition of her popular wine dictionary, “El Vino de la A a la Z.”

Keep track of Martinez’s activities and work by following her on Twitter – @MyMentrecopas.