Vintus

Errazuriz has been getting top reviews from Chile for two years running, but this week’s set of  reviews by Josh Raynolds in IWC are among the best to date – namely, these reviews confirm that Errazuriz is making compelling wines across a number of varieties and appellations.  It is an extremely impressive picture when taken together.  Overall, two of the top three wines are from Errazuriz (Vinedo Chadwick 2008 and Don Max 2008), and in addition we had an astounding array of 90 Point scores across the Single Vineyard/Specialty wines you can download here a little sheet we did listing these scores.

Some extraordinary reviews for Errazuriz just out in the latest Wine Advocate.  Viñedo Chadwick is the single top-rated wine, with a 97 point review. With the #1 wine and 3 of the top 5 scores in this year’s reviews, Errazuriz is head and shoulders above the competition. This star turn confirm’s Errazuriz’s position as the premier family wine estate of Chile. Full reviews are below the jump. Congratulations to the whole team at Errazuriz!

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Still more press for the Berlin Tasting – New York, this one from Josh Raynolds of Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar. Writing on the Winophilia blog, Raynolds says, “If the point that Chadwick was trying to make is that Chilean wines are delicious and often preferable to big-name wines from long-established growing regions, he made a big impression on the group.” The full post is here.

Another tremendous piece of press today, Bloomberg has posted a piece on the Berlin Tasting – New York. The best part is her final line, the real winner is Errazuriz’ Single Vineyard Cabernet.

“As we head for lunch at Porter House in the Time Warner center after the tasting, I keep thinking of what Jean-Bernard Delmas, former manager of Chateau Haut-Brion, once said to me: ‘I don’t make my wine to go with Lafite, I make it to go with food.’

“Haut Brion is not on the table at lunch. Chadwick understandably pours his own wines, including one that wasn’t in the tasting. The juicy, vibrant 2007 Errazuriz Single Vineyard Cabernet  doesn’t have the concentration and depth of his five icon wines, but it’s vibrant and delicious with filet mignon and, hey, the price is right. Maybe that one was the real winner.“

Full article is here.

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!

New York

Chicago

Los Angeles

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:

NEW YORK

“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)

CHICAGO

“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