Twenty years ago, an internationally acclaimed wine tasting laid the foundation for the steep rise of Chile's top wines. Now, star winemaker Eduardo Chadwick invited around seventy representatives of the wine industry from across the EU to an anniversary tasting to commemorate this milestone with a "Berlin Tasting 2024".
Unlike at the first event, this time the top Chilean wines did not first have to prove themselves in a blind tasting against Château Lafite or Ornellaia This time, wines from the past forty years were used to impressively trace the upward development curve. Two decades ago the wines of wines of Viñedo Familia Chadwick wines at a pioneering blind tasting called "The Berlin Tasting" (a reference to the famous "Paris Tasting" of 1976) with their French and Italian counterparts already at eye level. To celebrate the anniversary of this legendary tasting, the "Who is who" the European wine world on 19. and February 20, 2024 at the Hotel Regent Berlin.
This time winemaker Eduardo Chadwick, however, was not eagerly awaiting a verdict from the assembled Wineritikerlike the wines of Don Maximiano, Seña and Viñedo Chadwick opposite the Premier Crus from Bordeaux and the SuperTuscans sections, sinstead presented Viñedos Familia Chadwick presented four verticals of their award-winning Don Maximiano, KAI, Seña and Viñedo Chadwick wines dating back to the 1984 vintage, including the 2004 winner, Viñedo Chadwick 2000. The guests left no doubt that the Chilean Wine scenene have found their own way and expression when it comes to vinifying wines of outstanding quality and ageability.
So it was only fitting that the first vertical featured the 1984, 2011 and 2021 vintages of the flagship wine Don Maximiano Founder's Reserve from Errázuriz were tasted. This wine, consisting of Cabernet Sauvignon with smaller proportions of
Carménère and other Bordeaux grape varieties, is a tribute to the man who founded the family's first winery. founded. With KAI, which has been produced since 2005, named after the word for plant in the language of the indigenous people of Chile, the equally visionary descendant of Maximiano Errázuriz, Eduardo Chadwick, presented his idea of a wine made 100 percent from the characteristic Carménère-grape.
The third vertical of the iconic Seña-wines was the most comprehensive, starting with the 1998 vintage, followed by 2008, 2015 and 2021. Seña is the result of a partnership between Robert Mondavi and Eduardo Chadwick. In 1995, they signed the first international joint venture in the history of Chilean viticulture. Three years later, they planted the most important red Bordeaux varieties in a 42-hectare hillside vineyard in Ocea40 kilometers from the Pacific Ocean. As the vertical tasting in Berlin clearly demonstrated, the duo's original vision has been realized: each bottle still captures the true voice and essence of the Aconcagua Valley, while receiving recognition for being one of Chile's few undisputed First Growths.
Completed the masterclass by the tasting of Viñedo Chadwick with wines from avineyard in the Maipovalley. The vineyard is located in the heart of the Puente Alto D.O.. Thanks to its proximity to the Andes and the mild Mediterranean climate, the appellation is considered the home of the best Cabernet Sauvignon in Chile. The rare single-vineyard Cabernet wines have exceeded all exceeded all expectations, both at the "Berlin Tasting" in the year 2004, when the 2000 vintage took first place, as well as in the following two decades. The 2014 vintage achieved Chile's very first 100-point rating (James Suckling) - an achievement that was repeated three years later with the 2017 vintage. Naturally, both of these top vintages were tasted at Vertikale, followed by the equally highly rated 2021 vintage, Chile's first 100-point wine at Wine Advocate. Falstaff was also very impressed by this assessment and awarded the top score.
The ratings and descriptions of all the wines reviewed can be found here:
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