The buzz never seems to settle at the Wines of Chile stand at Expo Shanghai, where the interest is mutual in seeing to it that more Chinese consumers have the opportunity to enjoy Chilean wines. Although the Chinese population is relatively new to wine drinking-and in fact barely sip a half a liter per capita per year-consumption is on the rise and Chilean wine is closely aligned with Chinese taste preferences.

Juan Somavía, Managing Director of Wines of Chile, explained the importance of this growing market for Chile. “Expo Shanghai is a unique platform for promoting and positioning Chilean wine in one of the world’s fastest growing markets. Chilean wine offers tremendous variety, excellence, and a price-to-quality ratio that is very attractive to Chinese consumers and initiatives such as this help establish important commercial and strategic contacts that will quickly lead to a greater participation in this market.”

One of the major highlights of this past week’s busy calendar was the Guided Tasting in which 43 Chilean wineries presented their wines to 250 carefully selected members of China’s budding wine industry, including writers, importers, buyers, restaurateurs, and hotel managers.

Chinese expert Thomas Chung–who spent several weeks exploring Chilean wine and wineries earlier this year–presented a seminar in which he explained the regional, geographical and varietal characteristics, with a special emphasis on Carmenere, which he finds particularly suited to many Chinese meat dishes.

Following the seminar, the general public was invited to taste the wines poured by the 43 Chilean wineries that participated in the event: Balduzzi, Botalcura, Carmen, Carolina Wines Brands, Casa Lapostolle, Casa Marín, Casa Rivas, Casa Tamaya, Casablanca, Casas del Bosque, Chocalán, Concha y Toro, Cono Sur, De Martino, El Aromo, Errázuriz, Espíritu de Chile, Haras de Pirque, Indómita, J.Bouchon, La Rosa, Luis Felipe Edwards, Maquis, Misiones de Rengo, Montes, MontGras, Morandé, Nativa, Pérez Cruz, Requingua, San Esteban, San Pedro Tarapacá, Santa Helena, Santa Rita, Siegel, Sur Andino, Undurraga, Valdivieso, VC Family, Ventisquero, VIA Wines, Vista Mar, Viu Manent.

And don’t worry if you missed the big event… you haven’t missed out on all the fun! The Chile Pavilion has one of the best places at the Expo to stop for a drink and a bite. See what CNNgo has to say here: “Shanghai Expo Bar Crawl“.