The Berlin Tastings last week were sights to see, hosted in grand settings and featuring a who’s who of the wine press and trade in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles (and points beyond). We’ve compiled all the photos from the events, have a look at the links below!
Telmo Rodriguez, Manga Hero
Superstar winemaker Telmo Rodriguez receives a lot of press coverage in all corners of the world, but this is easily the coolest feature yet. Telmo appears in the latest issue of La Sommelière, a manga featuring the ongoings of Itsuki Kana, a sommelier in Tokyo. In the issue, Kana serves a glass to a noted wine critic blind, only to have him declare the wine to be a J.L. Chave Hermitage, when it’s actually Telmo’s Gaba do Xil Mencía! Quite the statement of quality, and a funny one at that. As a young oenologist, Telmo worked with Chave in the Rhone, gaining invaluable experience that informed his work in Valdeorras. Scans from the issue are below the jump.
NPR’s Margot Adler was at the Berlin Tasting – New York last Monday, and a fantastic piece on the festivities was broadcast nationally on last night’s All Things Considered. The full piece can be read here. Some pretty funny comments, especially in the reactions to Steven Spurrier’s tasting notes. The full audio is below:
NPR – Chilean Wine Wines Blind Taste Test
Decanter and the Daily Mail’s man in Australia, Matthew Jukes, has published his annual 100 Best Australian Wines, with some spectacular results for Mitolo and Shaw + Smith. In his introduction, Jukes includes Mitolo among just 15 wineries in his inaugural “Hall of Fame,” a distinction awarded for having made the list every year since its inception. That’s a remarkable testament to the quality of Frank Mitolo and Ben Glaetzer’s project, consistently making the best wines in McLaren Vale.
Mitolo Jester Cabernet Sauvignon 2009, McLaren Vale
“Frank Mitolo kindly flew in all of his new releases a few weeks ago for assessment and any one of them could have made this list. After forensic examination, Jester Cab was the champion of the Jester duo, once again, by virtue of the dribble of Serpico that it is kindly allowed to slurp. This inky addition makes Jester’s fruit transcendental in its delivery of cassis, dark chocolate and liquorice flavours. This wine could teach the whole of South America about fruit/oak/alcohol balance such is its impeccable fulcrum of flavours. One more scoop – A 2010 Mitolo Vermentino (!) looked stunning, too. You heard it here first.” Matthew Jukes’ 100 Best Australian Wines
Mitolo Savitar Shiraz 2007, McLaren Vale
“From the Chinese Block in Willunga and named after a mythical dragon whose tail ‘swept the stars from the sky and flung them to the earth’, this is a wine groaning with symbolism and valid hype. Considered to be a lighter vintage and yet easily as gripping and bold as the rich 2006, this is a thrilling wine with clove, woodsmoke, black liquorice and even pastrami notes in its vast panoply of flavours. Mitolo is riding the crest of the wave and perhaps a dragon’s tail, too.” Matthew Jukes’ 100 Best Australian Wines
Shaw + Smith Sauvignon Blanc 2009, Adelaide Hills
“Is this the finest S+S SB ever? An early glimpse at this wine last year suggested that it is and repeated encounters ever since (many such goes, I am fortunate to report) have confirmed this thought. Purity and length are the only two elements worth considering after the flavour boxes have been ticked and this wine excels in both disciplines.” Matthew Jukes’ 100 Best Australian Wines
Wines of Chile filmed a great video featuring Eduardo Chadwick, Steven Spurrier and the atmosphere at the Berlin Tasting in New York. As follows:
The Wine Advocate has posted a preview of Antonio Galloni’s Tuscany scores, with some fantastic results for Torrione and Galatrona. Says Galloni, “proprietor Luca Sanjust and his team continue to make some of the most sensual, pleasurable wines in Tuscany. Always intellectually curious, Sanjust continues to push the envelope.”
Petrolo Torrione 2007
“Petrolo’s 2007 Torrione (Sangiovese) is one of the overachievers of the vintage. In a blind tasting it could easily be mistaken for a wine that costs twice as much (trust me on that!). This is simply a marvelous bottle of Tuscan red laced with perfumed red fruits, silky tannins and exceptional overall balance. The minerality and delineation here is nothing short of first class.” 92 Wine Advocate
Petrolo Galatrona 2007
“Petrolo’s 2007 Galatrona (Merlot) is another of the successes of the vintage. It is a dark, seamless Galatrona packed with dark fruit, cassis, minerals and French oak. Despite the wine’s opulence and richness, the fruit retains considerable clarity as well as nuance. Today the French oak is a touch pronounced, but in a few years this dense, plush Merlot from impeccably-farmed hillside vineyards should be firing on all cylinders.” 95+ Wine Advocate
The first round of press is rolling in about the stunning success of Errazuriz wines in the Berlin Tastings. Here are some of our favorites:
“Kai 2006, a high-end $80 Carmenère from Chile’s Aconcagua Valley, was voted best in show at an exclusive 10-wine competition held May 10 in New York, much to the surprise of the 70 members of the wine press and trade who tasted and rated the wines.” Wine Enthusiast (PDF)
“A Chilean wine bested two of Bordeaux’s Premier crus, two California cult wines and Super Tuscan in a blind tasting by about 100 of New York’s top critics, sommeliers and retailers.” Reuters (PDF)
“The standout of these pedigree Chilean estates is Vina Errazuriz, who first threw down the gauntlet at the historical Berlin Tasting of 2004.” Hamptons.com (PDF)
“In an experiment similar to the famed “Judgment of Paris” in which California wines were blind tasted against the best of France – and won – the Chileans had a similar result.” UK Telegraph (PDF)
“As was the case in 1976, there were upsets aplenty, including the fact that one of the Errázuriz wines, Kai (a blend of 87% Carmenere with the balance being Petit Verdot and Syrah) took the top spot.” NYInsider.tv (PDF)
“Strikingly, Errázuriz Kai, which is based almost entirely on Carmenère, retails in the US for $80 a bottle. This is significantly cheaper than the wines it beat.” The Drinks Business (PDF)
“Had you asked anyone on the way in, I highly doubt he or she would have anticipated that a Carmenère-based wine from Chile would beat out heavy-hitters from around the world.” AThirstySpirit.com (PDF)
“This tasting and the previous ones showed that Chile has the goods to stand up to the world’s icons.” Chicago Wine Examiner (PDF)
“10 Highly Regarded Wines, tasted blind, by Chicago’s most respected wine writers, buyers and suppliers.” InVitisVeritas.com (PDF)
“Mr. Chadwick says he’s not familiar with the “nuances of the palates” of Chicagoans vs. New Yorkers or Californians, but he’s intrigued by the Windy City’s interest in food and high-end restaurants.” Crain’s Business (PDF)
In the third and final Berlin Tasting held in Los Angeles today, Errazuriz stood shoulder-to-shoulder with global icons in a blind tasting moderated by owner Eduardo Chadwick and the legendary Steven Spurrier. The event, the conclusion of an incredible three-day run across the United States (see the note on New York and Chicago), featured 50 of the best palates in the California wine trade. The elegant Montage Beverly Hills played host to this incredible tasting, which featured Bordeaux First Growths Haut-Brion and Lafite Rothschild, Bolgheri icon Sassicaia, and Opus One and Stag’s Leap from Napa alongside Errazuriz’ Vinedo Chadwick, Don Maximiano, KAI, La Cumbre, and Sena. Congratulations to the Errazuriz team!
Set-up at the Beverly Hills Montage
Serious Tasting
In yet another success for Errazuriz, KAI was ranked above First-Growth Bordeaux, a Super Tuscan, and a Napa Cult Cabernet today at the Berlin Tasting – Chicago. Following on its victory in New York, this is an astounding result both for KAI and for Carmenère, Chile’s signature grape.
60 of the best palates from around the Midwest, including top journalists, sommeliers, and retailers, assembled at the Peninsula Hotel for a tasting led by the legendary Steven Spurrier and Errazuriz’ owner Eduardo Chadwick.
In a field of 10 wines from the 2006 vintage, KAI was ranked second, besting First Growths Haut-Brion and Lafite Rothschild, Sassicaia, and Opus One. A stunning result both for Errazuriz and Carmenère, this confirms Chile’s status as a producer of truly world-class wines. Congratulations to Errazuriz!
In the foreground, Errazuriz winemaker Francisco Baettig and owner Eduardo Chadwick after another great day
The Chicago tasters, hard at work at the Peninsula
Errazuriz is thrilled to announce that in a blind tasting of the top wines from around the world by seventy of the most important wine trade in the United States, KAI was voted the number one wine. British wine legend Steven Spurrier recreated the format from the historic Paris Tasting he held in 1976, the landmark event that gave credibility to quality wines from California, dispelled the myth of the superiority of French wine, and prompted the expansion of wine production throughout the New World. Today, a Chilean wine sat atop the wine world.
Mr. Spurrier led a panel with more than seventy of the United States’ most highly regarded wine journalists, professionals and buyers to judge a range of top 2006 vintage wines: Château Lafite Rothschild and Château Haut-Brion from France, Opus One and Stag’s Leap SLV from California, and Sassicaia from Italy.
In the blind tasting, Errazuriz’ KAI 2006 was voted first with top honors, followed by Opus One 2006. In third place came Château Haut-Brion 2006. The result is not only a spectacular victory for Chile, but also for Chile’s emerging signature grape: Carmènere. A long-lost grape variety from Bordeaux, in the last decade Chile has claimed Carmènere as its own and shown that it is capable of making wines that stand alongside the world’s very finest
The elegant Mandarin Oriental was the perfect setting for this event. The day began with a presentation by Eduardo Chadwick comparing top wine regions of the world, including Bordeaux, Napa Valley, Tuscany, and Chile. The lecture was followed by the now-historic “Berlin Tasting–New York.” While Errazuriz intended to demonstrate that its wines can stand shoulder to shoulder with the best in the world, it was astonishing to see one of their wines rank at the very top.
In 2004, Spurrier and Errazuriz Owner Eduardo Chadwick led a tasting in Berlin, Germany, modeled after the 1976 Paris Tasting, and have held similar tasting in seven other countries. In that first tasting in 2004, a group of legendary French and Italian wines were placed by judges a distance behind a Chilean wine from Errazuriz, Viñedo Chadwick. Today, history repeated itself as the United States decided that KAI from Errazuriz would become a world benchmark.
Errazuriz Owner Eduardo Chadwick holds up the winning bottle, flanked by VINTUS owner Michael Quinttus and Steven Spurrier
The tasters, hard at work
A beautiful day in New York City