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The moderators also highlighted the importance of the BT Santiago.

For Eduardo Bretahuer, “in Chile we are used to navel-gazing, to taste too little from abroad. To see now, how Chilean wines stand on an equal footing with some of the best wines from California, Italy and Spain, I would say it’s not surprising. It’s something we should be proud of. As demonstrated by Viña Errázuriz today, now it’s time not to look down, but to be proud and show out the great terroirs we have in Chile”.

According to Patricio Tapia, this is one instance, among others, to promote Chilean wine; an interesting one though, because being blind, “puts the quality of Chilean wine in a completely objective context”, he said adding, “It has been very successful for the last 10 years, what is very laudable. The results are not surprising. I think Chilean wines have reached an interesting level of quality. What needs to be done now is to promote them in a coherent way”.

As a conclusion, Francisco Baettig, conductor of the Berlin Tasting Santiago, commented that these results, “more than a success, are a recognition of Errázuriz and Seña’s wines’ quality, and a very relevant one, because it took place ‘at home’, and added, “a highlight of this tasting is, that this time we tasted vintages from the last 15 years, which demonstrated the great consistency and ageing potential of Chilean Icon wines.”

In turn, Viña Errázuriz and Viña Seña’s President, Eduardo Chadwick, was very pleased and proud about the results, the enthusiastic participation of the audience and to be completing this tour of nearly 10 years around the world. “We are closing a cycle today -he said, adding that- The idea has always been to show that our Chilean wines have equivalent potential to be the same level as the best wines in the world. And I think this has been widely demonstrated by the 18 blind tastings we’ve done in major world capitals. Therefore, it was important to make a closure here in Chile, with our critics. It was a great pleasure and honor to be able to share this work with them. Now, it is time to take another challenge and think of innovations to keep raising the image of our wines, conquering the global consumers’ preference. It is a beautiful challenge we face as a country and producers of quality-wine. It is very important to redouble efforts as an industry and work very close together with Wines of Chile, to position our wines at the highest level worldwide. This may be an illusion… but one that is very possible to achieve, and will be easier to achieve, if we work united!”

In a new landmark moment for Chilean wines, Don Maximiano Founder’s Reserve 2010 and Seña 2008 were chosen in 1st and 2nd places, as the favorites of the Berlin Tasting Santiago’s participants.

This was the last blind tasting organized by Viña Errázuriz and Viña Seña, with the objective to share this experience in Chile with industry colleagues and experts, and to end a successful journey in which they toured over 15 nations since 2004, aiming to promote the high standard of Chilean fine wines and to position this country amongst the world’s greatest appellations.

Over 80 wine journalists, opinion leaders, sommeliers and key members of the Chilean wine-industry gathered at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Santiago on October 15th to participate in the closing event of this world-tour.

The tasting was performed in a vertical format, highlighting 15 years of evolution through historic vintages of Chilean Icon wines, such as Viñedo Chadwick, Don Maximiano Founder’s Reserve and Seña, alongside classic harvests of outstanding wines of the world, in order to offer the attendees the chance to compare their qualities and ageing potential.

This event was special: after carrying out successful editions in the five continents since 2004, the Berlin Tasting Santiago constituted a great challenge, as well as a unique opportunity to taste wines of extraordinary quality, thus becoming a significant end to this journey of nearly a decade.

The event was highly regarded by relevant industry members:
“Events like this one are especially important for Chile. As Chile has to break the deadlock of offering just good value wines. What Eduardo has done is very bold; of great courage … I think he has done more for Chile than for himself. And this is exactly what we all must do to increase the prestige of Chilean wine internationally”, said Aurelio Montes, Wines of Chile’s Vice President and partner of Viña Montes.

Winemaker and Founder of Viña Bodega RE, Pablo Morandé, agreed emphasizing, “Eduardo has undertaken a titanic work. He has done this many times, in all the capitals of the wine world and with major consumers; placing not only his own, but Chilean flags, in all of those places”.