Von Siebenthal Rises to the Sommelier Challenge
12th January 2012
The inaugural Wines of Chile Sommelier Chile Challenge took place this week at the stunning Paramount on the 32nd floor of London’s Centre Point building. Top UK sommeliers gathered for a blind tasting that would put Chile to the test.
All wines were tasted blind and were grouped in flights of: Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Red Blends and Syrah.
Rather than simply show a selection of Chilean wines, guests were invited to bring along a ‘secret’ wine of their own to match against Chile’s finest – it had to be non-Chilean and something they consider as a good example of a restaurant wine.
The Chilean line up was selected by Peter McCombie MW and Peter Richards MW. Guests were not aware of how many non-Chilean wines were in the line up and were asked to judge purely on taste and appropriateness for the on-trade. At the end of the tasting they were asked to highlight their top wines from each group – wines they would consider for a wine list. The three wines with the most votes overall were:
•Cono Sur Ocio Casablanca Pinot Noir 2009
•Errázuriz Aconcagua Costa Chardonnay 2009
•Von Siebenthal Parcela # 7 (Cabernet/Merlot/Petit Verdot/Cabernet Franc) Aconcagua 2009
Guests included Martin Lam (Ransome’s Dock), Jade Koch (ex St John & Tate), Laurent Chaniac (Cinnamon Club), Diana Rollan (Hakkasan) and Andrea Briccarello (La Chapelle/Galvin Restaurants)
Comments from the tasters concurred that Chile’s premium wines are displaying much more elegance and food-friendliness nowadays, with oak and fruit in balance especially in the red wines. The guests also found that a sense of place was evident with cool climate / coastal areas such as Leyda, Casablanca, Limarí, and Paredones very much to the fore. Jade Koch described the Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet flights as “outstanding”.
There was general agreement that Chile’s wines deserve greater exposure on modern wine lists as their quality, and especially taking into account their value for money, offer the restaurateur big opportunities.
Michael Cox, Wines of Chile’s European Director said, “The purpose of this Chile Challenge blind tasting event was to expose a representative selection of Chile’s top premium wines to tough scrutiny by restaurant experts, and the message to the on trade was loud and clear – Chile is a natural choice.”