Over the last few days I have learned an incredible amount of information in Chile. The wine industry here is flourishing so well. This region is quickly becoming one of the top producers of fine wine in the world. They have a large variety of grapes grown and wines produced, with the most widely planted varietal being Pais and Cabernet Sauvignon. Over the past week, I have met with ProChile, Vinnova, Movi Chile, and the Association of Wines of Chile. These companies represent the wine industry and are pushing to make Chilean wine a global powerhouse. On top of that, I have visited Concha y Toro, the largest winery in Chile and fifth largest company in the world, and Cousino Macul, the oldest winery in Chile. I will be traveling to Valpariso to visit Vina Catrala, Vina Emiliana Organica, Matetic Vineyard, and William Cole Winery.
One of the more exciting parts about my trip was being able to meet with Patricio Tapia. He is the Associate editor for the Wine & Spirits Magazine and has his own publication in Chile. He is considered to be the foremost expert on Chilean Wines, comparable to Robert Parker. He travels all over Chile, tastes wines and writes reviews on their quality. If you wan tto know about wine, his blog is the one to follow. He also puts out his own magazine, combining the fine ascpects of food and wine pairing. From my meeting I was able to discern which regoins of Chile offer the best wines, in his opinion. This is especially enticing to me, a person who has not yet tried as many Chilean wines as i would like. I was able to vastly increase my knowledge about which regions offers the best varietal, and why that is. This of course is due to terroir, but having a person who has already done a lot of leg work tell you which wines to buy from which region is incredibly helpful.
I cannot wait to continue my trip, taste wonderful wines, and learn all that i can about this wonderful region of the world. I feel that we will soon be seeing a lot more Chilean wines in the United States and I could not be happier.
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