Vintus

Errazuriz has put together a special vertical pack showcasing the “Best of 3 Decades”, a six-bottle case with two bottles Don Maximiano Founder’s Reserve from three vintages, as follows:

• 2 bottles 1984: the second Don Max, released a year after Eduardo Chadwick took the helm of Errazuriz from his father
• 2 bottles 1990: with Errazuriz at 120 years of age, this year starts the decade when Errazuriz emerged as a global fine wine leader
• 2 bottles 2006: a wine with extraordinary world-wide acclaim, and perhaps the vintage that saw the global press firmly place Errazuriz as one of the top premium wine producers in the world

These wines showcase Errazuriz’ history and quality, but alas there are only 76 cases being offered globally. More details if you click on the image below.

Errazuriz has become one of the first wineries in Chile to earn the certification of sustainability granted by Vinos de Chile and the Vinnova-Tecnovid Consortium (a group of top Universities, labs and wineries).  The certification affirms that Errazuriz complies with a series of requirements in its vineyards and properties.  Among the primary requirements, Errazuriz stands out for the measurement of its water and carbon footprints, precision agriculture with vigor photographs, and erosion control.  Errazuriz’ environmentally conscious efforts go hand-in-hand with making wines that are a true reflection of their sites.

Click on the image below to download more information.

Josh Greene of Wine & Spirits Magazine and Mariana Martinez, editor of planetavino.com, worked together to create the Wines of the Pacific tasting event in November, the results of which were just published in Wine & Spirits’ February issue.  The idea of the event was based on the annual Wines of the Andes competition in Argentina, where tasters assess the state of the mountain wines from both sides of the Andes.  Rather than mountain wines, the Wines of the Pacific featured wines grown along the Pacific coast. The blind tasting was held at Vina Indomita in Chile’s Casablanca Valley and included four flights by variety of Chilean and California wines, with no indication of origin or vintage, and a group of top American and Chilean press and trade.  Greene and Martinez found that the influence of the Pacific had a strong imprint on the wines, whether Chilean or Californian.  Each panelist ranked the top three and the totals were tallied, concluding in the selection of the three favorites in each category: sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, pinot noir, and syrah.

Impressively, the Errazuriz 2010 Aconcagua Wild Ferment Chardonnay made the top three.  The panelists’ notes states: “Its high intensity tropical fruit and floral notes are tied to a sense of cold weather conditions by its vertical structure.  Oak adds toffee and vanilla notes but doesn’t impinge on the clean fruit.”

Click the image below to read the full article.

Peter Richards MW from Decanter Magazine recently selected 15 Top Picks for Chilean Whites, published today on Decanter’s home page.

Errazuriz’s Wild Ferment from Aconcagua Costa made the list, with 4 stars and the following glowing review:

“Lovely, toasty, nutty nose with an oaky but still fresh and lemony savoury palate profile. 17.5pts/20″

See the full line-up here.

Wine Enthusiast Magazine, February 2012 edition, features a story on the struggles Chilean vintners faced in 2010 after a major earthquake.  The piece explained how this past year signaled a turnaround for Chileans, at least as far as wine is concerned.  According to the article, “2011 will go down as a year in which Chile was able to refocus on what it does best: deliver value-driven wines across multiple price points to almost every wine market on the planet”.  Of the many Chilean wines highlighted, Errazuriz 2008 Kai Carmenere was named “Best Gift Wine”, and received 92 points! Check out the note below!

The Wall Street Journal had a great article in this past Friday’s paper on Pinot Noir cultivation in Chile. The article is essentially all about Errazuriz, and describes at length Francisco Baettig’s background and efforts to establish Errazuriz as a premium producer in Chile.

Here is the link, and the full piece is below:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203476804576616663933456054.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Read the rest of this entry »

Errazuriz has put out a fascinating harvest report on the 2011 vintage.  It looks like overall it was a cooler spring and slightly cooler year than average, but heat summation was close to historical averages in some areas and slightly below in others.  Yields were low, wines are very good to excellent, with wonderful freshness, balance, aromatic intensity and flavor.  Click on the image below for the full report on the various appellations in which Errazuriz works.