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.

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.

Above: External Affairs Minister José Moreno, President Piñera and General Secretary Cecilia Perez at the Wines of Chile stand.

Promoting Chilean wine to an international forum, Wines of Chile had a valuable presence at the recent CELAC-UE Business Summit on January 25th and 26th.

The bi-annual summit is designed to help attract Direct Foreign Investment (DFI) from EU countries into Latin America and the Caribbean. Wines of Chile took this year’s summit as an opportunity to try and entice DFI into the growing wine industry with a prominent visitors’ stand.

Above: Alvaro Arriagada from Wines of Chile; Minister of Economy, Development and Tourism Juan Pablo Longueira Montes; and Jorge Cáceres from Prochile

Offering a tasting of some of the country’s world renowned wines over the two days, visitors to the Wines of Chile included Chile’s President, Sebastián Piñera, with the Minister of External Relations José Moreno and General Secretary Cecilia Perez who shared a toast along with many other prolific visitors from around the globe. 

“In CELAC-UE we presented the Chilean wines awarded in the Annual Wines of Chile Awards,” explained Alvaro Arriagada, Europe Area Manager for Wines of Chile, “these were a great attraction for all the entourage that accompanied the Presidents.”

Above: (Top) A journalist interviews Alvaro Arriagada and Cecilia Perez.
(Below) German Ambassador Sr. Jorge O’Ryan Schütz, Jorge Cáceres from Prochile and Alvaro Arriagada.
The summit which this year saw over 300 businesses in attendance, was first held in 1999 in Rio de Janeiro and continues to grow in prestige and attendance with the objective to promote business links. “The agenda is organized around the objective of improving bi-regional commercial relations and investments and of building a strategic alliance for the sustainable development of all our countries and peoples,” said Lorenzo Constans, the President of the Chilean Confederation of Production and Commerce in a welcome speech.

The next summit will be held in 2015.

Above: (Top) With Mining Minister Hernán de Solminihac
(Middle) The stand
(Below) With Coronel Andrés Felipe Diaz Lopez, Head of Honduras Presidential State

Each day the world is getting smaller and smaller, as Wines of Chile’s recent teletasting demonstrated. Despite 12,000kms between them, Chilean winemakers and German wine writers were practically in the same room on Wednesday, January 30th as they tasted wine together during a special ‘teletasting’.

Using video conferencing, wine press and importers from Germany tasted ten wines with their respective winemakers from Chile in a virtual tasting that took place over two hours. The Chilean winemakers led the tastings from Gen Hotel in the centre of Santiago that was broadcast to the German wine experts in Germany, who tried the wines previously sent to them.

The German tasters had the unique opportunity to meet the winemakers of Concha y Toro, Emiliana Organic Vineyards, Viña Casa Silva, Viña Montes and Viña Cono Sur all at once.

“This teletasting has been an extraordinary occasion to present the current [wine] trends in Chile,” said Jürgen Mathäß, journalist and Chilean wine specialist in Germany. “The German press have not until now had the possibility to find five great Chilean winemakers at the same one tasting. The wines have been of a great quality, each one spectacular at their price level.”

While guiding the wine press through tasting two of each of their wines, the winemakers and wine writers all used the same Riedel glasses specifically designed for each wine so that they could ensure that the tasting was in as similar conditions as possible in all locations – no matter which continent they were in. The simplicity and efficiency of the tasting provoked praise from many of the wine experts in Germany.

Andrea Bertram commented that the teletasting was a “great idea, as well as being a response consistent with the topic of sustainability, avoiding the plane journey.”

Without a bit of jet lag in sight, the tasting went off without a hitch and showcased an innovative way for the increasingly small global village to try great Chilean wines without leaving their house.

By Amanda Barnes

Wine makers and wines participating were as follows:

Cono Sur: Guillermo Sanchez Winemaker

- Cono Sur Organic Sauvignon Blanc 2012

- Cono Sur 20 Barrel Limited Edition Syrah 2009

Emiliana: Alvaro Espinoza

- Novas 2010

- Coyam 2009

Montes: Jorge Gutierrez

- Montes Alpha Carmenère 2010

- Montes Alpha Syrah 2010

Concha y Toro: Marcelo Papa

- Marqués de Concha Cabernet Sauvignon

- Marqués de Casa Concha Carmenere 2010

Casa Silva: Arnauld Frenet

- Casa Silva Microterroir 2006

- Quinta Generación 2008

An engaged audience at "Vinos de Terroir"

Chile’s exemplary terroirs have inspired tremendous online discussion following Wines of Chile’s “Vinos de Terroir” seminar, which was held at chic restaurant Colicchio & Sons in New York City’s Meatpacking District on November 13.

As described in our recent press release, the seminar – delivered by Chilean terroir specialist Dr. Pedro Parra – educated an audience of journalists, sommeliers, and other trade professionals about Chile’s unique geographic and geologic properties, showcasing the country’s terroir diversity.

Pedro Parra (center) speaking in NYC, with Sandy Block (left) and Mark Oldman (right)

With an overall objective to showcase the Chilean wine industry’s skill in producing high-quality wines that impeccably communicate Chile’s unique environmental features and winemaking artistry, “Vinos de Terroir” successfully provided a powerful taste of terroir through the following 10 expressive icon wines:

• Cipreses Vineyard 2011 | Casa Marín
• Casa Real 2009 | Santa Rita
• Don Melchor 2008 | Concha y Toro
• Carmín de Peumo 2008 | Concha y Toro
• Altaïr 2007 | Altaïr
• Don Maximiano Founder’s Reserve 2007 | Errázuriz
• Seña 2007 | Seña
• Montes Alpha M 2010 | Montes
• Lapostolle Clos Apalta 2009 | Lapostolle
• Montes Folly 2009 | Montes

Sampling terroir

Tasted wines met various criteria for quality including price, critical acclaim and top ratings by wine experts, viticultural heritage, and terroir characteristics, taking the New York audience on a sensory journey to Chile.

“The tasting was very informative and well organized,” said Nathan Wesley of Wine Spectator. “I feel like I could spend a week with Pedro [Parra] and still only scratch the surface of terroirs in Chile. He’s a wealth of knowledge.”

Master of Wine Sandy Block led the tasting while author and TV personality Mark Oldman moderated the overall event. Master Sommelier and Wines of Chile Educator Fred Dexheimer organized wine service.

Mark Oldman

Fifty-eight attendees participated, including 36 VIP guests consisting of prominent members of the press, and key on- and off-premise personalities.

Impeccable food service

A marvelous lunch buffet followed, providing a relaxed opportunity for guests to again taste wines while enjoying a meal of superb cuisine.

“Vinos de Terroir” was a relatively small and intimate occasion, but the event has generated a significant online impact through Twitter posts, Facebook photos, and multimedia discussions.

Using the #TerroirChile hashtag for Twitter, the seminar’s effective media output resulted in 245,093 views, 1,061 “likes”, 147 shares, and 68 comments (as of December 7, 2012).

Further promoting “Vinos de Terroir,” four entertaining and informative videos about the event were created and published on Wines of Chile’s Youtube channel, contributing to the web chatter:

Part 1 – Speakers from the Vinos de Terroir Tasting in New York City discuss Chile’s wines and terroir.
Part 2 – Sandy Block and Pedro Parra speak about how terroir is interpreted in different ways.
Part 3 – Mark Oldman and Pedro Parra focus on pushing the limits of terroir.
Part 4 – Sandy Block, Pedro Parra and Mark Oldman share their perspectives on the wines tasted.

Online reviews of “Vinos de Terroir” by well-known journalists and bloggers include posts by 1 Wine Dude, Gabe’s View, Terroirist, and Cheers.

Chilean wine creates a buzz

“Excellent tasting … glad I could be there,” Gabe Sasso of Gabe’s View told Wines of Chile after the event. “I was really knocked out by a lot of the wines.”

“It was very well done and a good tasting,” agreed Michael Schachner of Wine Enthusiast. “Great lunch, too.”

Left to right: Sandy Block, Pedro Parra, Wines of Chile USA Director Lori Tieszen, and Mark Oldman

"Gracias New York" for a fantastic event