Event Location:

Pan Pacific Hotel

999 Canada Place, Vancouver, BC

The tasting event schedule is as follows:

Trade Tasting (250-300 guests) 2:00pm to 4:30pm

Consumer Reception (300 guests) 6:30pm to 9:30pm

Our supporting charity this year is The British Columbia Hospitality Foundation. 

Wines of Chile

Quebec’s annual Wines of Chile Trade and Consumer Grand Tasting was held on September 26 at elegant event venue Entrepôts Dominion in Montreal.

The tasting and seminar turned out to be a hot topic on the Web, with a live Twitter feed and hashtag generating lively online discussion and interaction.

“Prior to the event, the tasting was promoted in more than 15 stories on traditional media for a total of 370,000 media impressions,” says Wines of Chile’s Montreal office.

“We also created a Twitter hashtag for the event and actively posted some comments. That generated over 41,235 media impressions.”

This broad exposure significantly enhanced the impact of the event, communicating Wines of Chile’s assets to the Canadian audience both in-person and online.

Olive oil tasting

At the event itself, wine professionals, sommeliers, journalists, and aficionados savored the opportunity to taste Chilean wines with fine olive oil and goat cheese at a special tasting station.

Sommelier Bertrand Eichel hosted a fascinating seminar on Chile’s diverse viticulture called “Chile’s wines: From Coastal to Mountain.”

Sommelier Bertrand Eichel

Among the many other highlights of the day, numerous well-known wine specialists attended, including Marc Chapleau (Cellier Magazine), Vanessa Cournoyer (Blogue Tchin Tchin), and Frédéric Fortin (Blogue Cellier).

Ève Dumas (La Presse) participated in Eichel’s seminar, while Nathalie Richard (Châtelaine.com) was said to have adored the event. Tatiana Polevoy (TVA, Salut Bonjour) also relished the experience of discovering Chile, sharing the activities with her Twitter fans.

Renowned journalist and web TV producer Isabelle Juneau remained at the tasting for several hours, building connections with Chilean winemakers and producers to further spread the Wines of Chile message via her popular media outlet.

Finally, host of Plaisirs Gourmands (CIBL) Sophie Ginoux conducted an engaging interview that morning with Alberto Eckholt regarding the Chilean wine industry.

The following wineries participated in the exceptionally successful 2012 Montreal Grand Tasting:

Twenty Chilean wineries participated

Apaltagua
Arboleda
Caliterra
Carmen
Casa Silva
Chocalán
Concha y Toro
Cousiño Macul
De Martino
Emiliana
Errazuriz
Montes
Montgras
Morandé / Vistamar
San Pedro / Tarapacá
Santa Carolina
Santa Ema
Santa Rita
Siegel
Ventisquero

Wine industry members

Goat cheese with merken (Chilean roasted red pepper spice)

Cocktail

A successful tasting

Wines of Chile Grand Tasting in Toronto

More than 150 Chilean wines were imbibed at Wines of Chile’s 8th Annual Chilean Wine Festival in Toronto, Ontario on October 2.

The Royal Ontario Museum – one of North America’s largest museums and a repository for sophisticated collections of culture and natural history – was an inspiring and elegant venue for the event.

600+ attendees enjoyed the opportunity to interact with the wine trade, meet winemakers directly, and stimulate their palates with a diverse selection of excellent Chilean wines.

“This year we achieved two important goals with our event,” says Wines of Chile’s Managing Director Claudio Cilveti.

“Firstly, we showed Canadians the quality and diversity that Chile has to offer due to the geographical wealth with which the country is blessed and which is imprinted directly on each wine.”

Bringing quality and diversity to Canada

“As well as this,” he continues, “we demonstrated that sustainability has become an extremely important issue for the Chilean wine industry, and that we are taking firm steps with the ongoing sustainability certification process.”

Sustainability was a key theme in the afternoon’s sold-out seminar, “Sustainable Chile,” which was delivered by expert agronomist James Robinson. The seminar included a tasting of nine certified sustainable wines from Chile.

Focus tables engaged sommeliers and influential industry professionals through topics such as “Top Picks for Licensees,” “Appellation Nation,” and “Elqui and Limarí.”

The trade tasting and seminar were followed by an evening dinner for a select group of 350 enthusiasts and media members, with a delicious menu prepared by Daniel Catering and Chilean Chef Andres Michel. Live Latin music complemented decadent Chilean cuisine, along with – of course – perfectly-paired Chilean wines.

Tasting delicious Chilean wine and food

Trade & Media Tasting – 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm
Trade & Media Seminar – 3:30. Topic: Chile’s Wines – From Coastal to Mountain
Consumer Event and Fundraising cocktail – 6:00pm to 9:00pm

Educational Tables:

• AWoCA (2012 award winning wines eligible)
• Chile’s Wines – From Coastal to Mountain

Trade & Media Seminar: Sustainable Chile
Session one: 12:15 pm – 1:45 pm (trade and media)
Session two: 2:45 pm – 4:15 pm (LCBO Product Consultants)

Trade & Media Walk About Tasting: 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Consumer Walk About Tasting : 7:00 pm – 9:30 pm

Educational tables:

• 9th AWOCA
• Appellation Nation : Focus on regional appellations
• 2012 Focus: Elqui and Limarí

• 15 Chilean and 15 Argentinean wineries are requested by the VINTAGES to participate in this event;
• VINTAGES will be promoting the event to their consumer database and in-store through promotional signage/flyers;
• 300 consumers are expected to attend and the event will include BBQ food pairings with South American cuisine;

Goals:

• To support the June 9^th 2012 VINTAGES Chile thematic
• Increase sell through of Chilean wines purchased by VINTAGES in summer of 2012 at a range of premium and super premium price points
• Demonstrate to VINTAGES Chilean wineries’ interest in developing the country’s wine category vs. Argentina and other New World countries
• Drive sales and bring to life your offer to a new and diverse targeted consumer audience