Viña Errázuriz Icon Wines Share the Stage with World Benchmark Wines at the Berlin Tasting Held in Helsinki
Many of Finland’s top wine tasters including sommeliers, journalists and wine buyers, converged at the Kämp Hotel on May 12th of 2011, on a new edition of the Berlin Tasting held in Helsinki. Its purpose: to publicly demonstrate the high standard of fine Icon blends being produced in Chile, by tasting them blind alongside with the wines acknowledged as the very best in the world. Read More >
The tasting was hosted by Eduardo Chadwick, President of Viña Errázuriz, who explained why Chile is a viticultural paradise. Joining Eduardo as moderator was Antti Uusitalo, who quoted: “It’s a great opportunity to taste and compare different wines and origins; the Chilean wines showed a great quality, they are really world class.” Alongside in the panel was one of the only two Masters of Wines of Finland, Essi Avellan, who said: “It was really an eye opener, especially Viñedo Chadwick.”
The Berlin Tasting in Helsinki was a reproduction of the famous Berlin Tasting, held in Germany in 2004, where the most important wine writers, buyers, and specialists tasted the 2000 and 2001 vintages, and created an historical precedent by placing two wines from Chile (Viñedo Chadwick 2000 and Seña 2001) ahead of established French classics and Italian cult wines. At that time Steven Spurrier was quoted as saying “now the world knows that Chile produces premium wines.”
Conducting these blind tastings in different cities worldwide is part of Viña Errázuriz’s global educational program to demonstrate the world-class status of Chilean wines to an international audience.
Petri Aalto, Maria-Leena Arponen, Carlos De Carlos, Paivi Ekdahl, Anu Elomaa, Carlos Gajardo, Janne Halttunen, Anu Hedman, Timo Iivonen, Nina Jansson, Marita Joutjärvi, Saija Kangasjärvi, Hanna-Mari Keränen, Vesa Kivekäs, Pirkko Koivu, Jukka Kornilow, Arto Koskelo, Tarmo Koskenoja, Katrina Laitinen, Jari Lampen, Taneli Lehtonen, Anne Lepola, Juha Lihtonen, Jouko Mykkänen, Erkki Naski, Tuula Nieminen, Netta Nylund, Markku Pääsky, Antti Pankakoski, Anu Rajahalme, Pekka Rajala, Tiina Rantanen, Heikki Remes, Jukka Sinivirta, Sari Siren, Ilkka Siren, Aki Summanen, Christina Suominen, Marita Suontausta, Pekka Suorsa, Marjut Tiainen, Laura Tirronen, Timo Tossavainen, Hannu Tyrkkö, Lauri Vainio, Mika Vanne, Taina Vilkuna.
…Sometimes they win, but the real message to take home every time is that they are world class. [In] our Helsinki tasting, my personal favourite was Viñedo Chadwick 2007, the most impressive Chilean wine I have ever tasted! As a fan of the sport, I was relieved that Eduardo did not destroy his father’s polo field for nothing!
I think that the Berlin Tastings have been a useful exercise for both Chadwick and Chilean wine overall. Just putting the Chilean Icons side by side with the world’s most coveted classics is a brave act. Which wine is Chilean and which is not is not at all obvious in the tasting, and even when it is, one can appreciate how the Chilean wines stand up to the quality of the very best.
Chile has more than well earned its reputation as a maker of wines which the people of the world love. Clearly, I see the tastings completing this picture of Chilean wines by introducing the perhaps less well known range of wines matching any top quality wine from anywhere in the world. The tasting events, as they continue, solidify the position of Chile as a Premium producer and by doing that they do a favour to all Chilean wines.
I don’t think he was expecting at all to do as well as he did, but I think having done it, it was an educational experience further than he had planned, because instead of just educating the 40 or 50 people in the room, he educated the entire world.
When Eduardo and I first discussed the concept of this blind tasting format, I told him to brace himself for disappointment, especially given the popularity of Bordeaux reds in this part of the world. I was completely wrong in my warning and I am truly surprised by the results…
Until that point only Eduardo knew what he had in his hands. Today the whole world knows… By reaching indisputable recognition in the world wine scene, Eduardo Chadwick’s wines have clearly demonstrated Chile’s tremendous vitivinicultural potential and have helped Chilean wines earn greater space and credibility in the international market.
These tastings definitely have had an impact on how many influential members of the American wine trade view Chile today. So I see them as invaluable to promoting Chile’s well- deserved image as a source for world-class wine that can sit alongside the best that the rest of the world has to offer.
One enterprising Chilean wine producer, Eduardo Chadwick of Viña Errázuriz, has managed to organise a similar evolutionary milestone for the Chilean wine industry—or at least of his own wines… at what will doubtless come to be known in the history of Chilean wine as the “Berlin Tasting”