Oct 29: Wines of Chile and ProChile teamed up to bring wines from 8 producers as an image building exercise and high PQR and to find new importers for those wines that are not yet represented in India by organising a Masterclass followed by a walk around tasting at ITC Maurya, reports Subhash Arora who believes Chile presents special terroir, climate and diversity and some of its wines can hold ground against the best in the world
Alejandro Buvinic, Director of ProChile who was travelling for the first time to India and was accompanied by 6 producers and Juan Carrasco, Vice- President of Wines of Chile Asia conceded that ‘Chile produced mass wines till about 20 years ago but today it excels because of Terroir, Geography and Diversity. Chile is a mineral country. Rains from the sea make it unique in terms of climate. Strong sun during day and cool nights, help add to the freshness and personality of the wines.’
Carrasco also conceded that Wine of Chile had participated in India for the first time (although I distinctly remember them participating in Delhi in the past though not in the recent years), but promised they were going to be more participative from now on.
The proceedings were then handed over to the Sommelier of the afternoon, Magandeep Singh who had curated the Presentation from interesting slides from www.winesofchile.org and www.chile.travel. He invited each of the producers who had 
come from Chile to present each wine showcased at the Masterclass which was followed by a walk-around tasting of wines from all the 8 participating producers- Casa Silva, Emiliana (already represented through Hema Connoisseur), Cono Sur (represented by Sula, but the rep was also here), Viña Requingua, Terranoble (IWSC Chilean Wine Producer 2016), Luis Felipe Edwards (distributed by Dhall Foods though the rep had come too), Valdivieso (distributed by Agnetta International) and Viña La Rosa.
Wines in the Masterclass
1. Casa Silva-Gran Terroir de Los Lingues 2016 (Colchagua)
2. Emiliana Novas 2015 (Colchagua)
3. Cono Sur-Single Vineyard 2016 (Maipo)
4. Viña Requingua Toro de Piedra Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 (Colchagua)
5. Terranoble Gran Reserva 2014 (Maule)
6. Luis Felipe Edwards Doña Bernarda 2013 (Colchagua)
7. Valdivieso Caballo Loco No. 16 2011 (Limari/Apalta/Maipo/Curicó)
8. Viña La Rosa Ossa 2008 (Cachapoal)
The wines were representative of the diversity of the valleys and were all of very good quality. There were a good number of importers present but retail or hospitality industry did not seem to be as well represented. It has always intrigued me how wine connoisseurs and professionals can resist the temptation of attending such events. They are a good representation of the trends and very informative and educational and provide an excellent opportunity of tasting the latest or special vintages without having to travel to those countries.
Such events are extremely crucial for the development of new markets and even if the market is small, they offer great opportunity to taste and discuss various wines-in this case –over 50 labels. Congratulations to ProChile and Wines of Chile for the initiative and one hopes they will keep up with such events on a regular basis. Wines from different existing and new countries are vying to get a piece of the pie and any sense of complacence could be detrimental to the growth of wines from Chile, which have done well for the low/entry level wines but have yet to establish a mark for the high end wines that were available for tasting in Kamal Mahal at ITC Maurya on Oct 25, 2017.
Subhash Arora
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