M O N T H LY N E W S
FINE WINE COLLECTION MARCH 2016
NEWS WINES OF ORIGIN / CHILE
ESCALADE VISITS CHILE TO LEARN ABOUT NEW DEVELOPMENTS AT CONCHA Y TORO THE ENTIRE TEAM OF THE WINERY’S CANADIAN AFFILIATE VISITED CHILE DURING THE WEEK OF FEBRUARY 29 TO MARCH 4 TO PARTICIPATE IN TASTINGS AND OTHER ACTIVITIES WITH THE COMMERCIAL TEAM.
The entire team of Escalade, which exclusively distributes Concha y Toro wines in Canada, visited Chile to familiarize themselves with some of the valleys that give rise to the company’s leading wines and to participate in a series of meetings, tastings, and other activities with the commercial team. The visitors—who included Duncan Hobbs, president of Charton-Hobbs and a member of the Escalade board, and Brigitte Lachance, Charton-Hobbs CFO and also Escalade board member—visited the company’s Peumo vineyards in the Cachapoal Valley with Hugo Requena, Export Manager for Canada, to learn about the wines that are grown in that renowned Concha y Toro vineyard. That evening the group attended “Marques Night,” held on
the exclusive rooftop terrace of Hotel Noi in Santiago, where they tasted the new vintages of Marques de Casa Concha, a leading brand in the Canadian market. The next day Escalade’s Provincial Managers met with Concha y Toro General Manager Eduardo Guilisasti in Pirque to analyze the successful position Escalade has achieved in the Canadian market. They then joined Marcelo Papa for a tasting of Marques de Casa Concha and met with Don Melchor winemaker Enrique Tirado. They concluded their visit with a luncheon with the entire Concha y Toro marketing/commercial team before departing for the 5th Region for a tour of Valparaiso and the surrounding area.
DON MELCHOR / CHILE
CHEF BRUNO MÉNARD IN CHILE CHEF BRUNO MÉNARD WAS IN CHILE MARCH 7–11 TO VISIT THE VINEYARD THAT GIVES RISE TO DON MELCHOR, MEET WITH WINEMAKER ENRIQUE TIRADO, AND PREPARE AN EXCLUSIVE PAIRING DINNER.
During his first trip to Chile, celebrated French chef Bruno Ménard visited the Don Melchor Vineyard in Puente Alto in the Maipo Valley to get to know the place that gives rise to the wine showcased in the “Don Melchor Culinary Challenge.” Ménard toured the vineyard with Enrique Tirado and learned some of the details that make Don Melchor one of the world’s most unique wines. They also shared an exclusive tasting that explored the vintages included in the Challenge as well as each of the blocks that give rise to what is one of Chile’s most emblematic Cabernet Sauvignons.
During his time in Chile, the 53-year old French chef also visited the Central Market to learn about some typical Chilean ingredients and also met with the Concha y Toro team and some of the brand’s leading distributors in Asia. He wrapped up his visit with a tasting dinner that featured the menu of the “Don Melchor Culinary Challenge.” This unprecedented pairing dinner was designed to create an extraordinary and innovative five-course dinner paired with five Don Melchor vintages (the 2011, 2010, 2007, 1990 and 1988) that has taken Ménard to Asia’s major cities to show how the wine has evolved over the decades and inspired a menu of exceptional quality.
WINES OF ORIGIN / CHILE
KOREAN DISTRIBUTOR MEET WITH WINEMAKERS THE STAFF OF KEUMYANG, CONCHA Y TORO’S DISTRIBUTOR IN KOREA, WERE IN CHILE MARCH 7–13 TO PARTICIPATE IN TASTINGS WITH THE CONCHA Y TORO TEAM.
During the second week of March, Viña Concha y Toro welcomed representatives of Keumyang, which distributes the company’s wines in Korea, to share some of the latest developments in the company’s Wines of Origin portfolio. While in Chile, the visitors met with the managers of each brand and participated in a series of activities that included a tour of the Almaviva vineyard, a visit to the winery’s research center, and tastings in Pirque,
where they met with winemaker Marcio Ramírez to taste the latest vintages of the Terrunyo line and Carmín de Peumo. The evening concluded with a pairing dinner led by celebrated French chef Bruno Ménard. The event was hosted by winemaker Enrique Tirado and Fine Wine Marketing Manager Isabel Guilisasti to present a menu featured especially created dishes paired with five different vintages of Don Melchor, Chile’s most iconic Cabernet Sauvignon
WINES OF ORIGIN / CHILE
JAPANESE WINE WRITER KUNIO BANSHO VISITS PIRQUE FROM MARCH 7 TO 11, KUNIO BANSHO, WINE WRITER AND EDITOR- IN-CHIEF OF WANDS MAGAZINE, VISITED CHILE ONCE AGAIN TO DISCOVER THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS IN CONCHA Y TORO’S WINES OF ORIGIN PORTFOLIO. On Thursday, March 10, Bansho and three major distributors for leading Japanese hotel and restaurant chains—Takashi Watanabe, Harunobu Watase and Masakazu Yasunaga—visited Pirque for a tasting that included many of the wines in the Wines of Origin portfolio. The tasting began with the 2015 Gran Reserva Serie Riberas Chardonnay and the 2014 Gran Reserva Serie Riberas Cabernet Sauvignon, followed by the 2015 Marques de Casa Concha Sauvignon Blanc, the 2015 País Cinsault, the 2014 Carmenere, the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon, and the 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Limited Edition.
Celebrated Japanese wine writer Kunio Bansho recently visited the winery accompanied by major distributors from Japan to participate in a series of activities that included a tasting in the Limarí Valley with wines from that denomination of origin—most notably Marques de Casa Concha Chardonnay 2014—and a visit to Viña Concha y Toro’s research center.
The wines selected from the Terrunyo line included the 2015 Terrunyo Sauvignon Blanc, the 2014 Terrunyo Carmenere Lot N°1, the 2013 Terrunyo Carmenere, and the 2013 Terrunyo Cabernet Sauvignon, followed by the 2012 vintage of Concha y Toro’s icon Carmenere, Carmín de Peumo. Winemaker Enrique Tirado concluded the tasting with the 2012 Don Melchor and 2014 Gravas del Maipo, bringing to a close yet another successful visit by Bansho to Concha y Toro.
SUBERCASEAUX / CHILE
SUCCESSFUL MASTER CLASS BY RENOWNED SUBERCASEAUX CONSULTANT CHRISTOPHE GERLAND, ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST CELEBRATED SPARKLING WINE CONSULTANTS, LED AN EXCLUSIVE TASTING WITH SUBERCASEAUX WINEMAKER MARCELO PAPA.
On March 17, celebrated winemaker and international consultant to the world’s leading sparkling wine producers, Christophe Gerland, and Marcelo Papa, lead winemaker of Subercaseaux Grande Cuvée and Extra Brut met on the rooftop terrace of The Singular Hotel to present an exclusive master class to share details about the process of creating Concha y Toro’s Ultra Premium sparkling wine.
The event was attended by leading members of the wine trade who tasted both wines and were invited to discover the unique attributes of the line from the Limarí Valley, made according to the traditional method to deliver two top-quality sparkling wines to the market.
WINES OF ORIGIN / BRAZIL
DESCORCHADOS GUIDE LAUNCHED IN BRAZIL DESCORCHADOS, CHILE’S MOST COMPREHENSIVE AND CELEBRATED WINE GUIDE, WAS RECENTLY LAUNCHED IN BRAZIL FOR THE SEVENTH TIME WITH AN EVENT ATTENDED BY MORE THAN 1,000 PEOPLE. WINEMAKER MARCELO PAPA WAS THERE TO POUR THE 2013 MARQUES DE CASA CONCHA CABERNET SAUVIGNON LIMITED EDITION, AMONG OTHER WINES.
The Brazilian edition of the Descorchados wine guide was launched on Monday, March 21, at Praça São Lourenço in Sao Paulo. Organized in collaboration with Adega magazine, the event was attended by leading Chilean, Argentine, and Brazilian wineries, as well as distinguished journalists, sommeliers, and associates of the Río-based magazine. The participants enjoyed tastings of some of the wines highlighted in the guide, including the 2014 Terrunyo
Carmenere Lot N°1, named the best Chilean Carmenere, the 2013 Casa Concha Cabernet Sauvignon Limited Edition, which earned 94 points, and the 2013 Marques de Casa Concha Carmenere, which received 92 points in the guide. The 2014 Gravas del Maipo was also featured, with a score of 93 points, further highlighting Concha y Toro’s successful showing in one of the most eagerly awaited wine events in the southern hemisphere.
DON MELCHOR / CHILE
PROMINENT PUERTO RICAN SOMMELIERS TASTE DON MELCHOR IN PIRQUE SIX DISTINGUISHED SOMMELIERS FROM PUERTO RICO VISITED THE WINERY TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE METICULOUS ENOLOGICAL PROCESS BEHIND EACH VINTAGE OF DON MELCHOR, CHILE’S ICON CABERNET SAUVIGNON.
Winemaker Isabel Mitarakis led a tasting for Puerto Rican sommeliers during which the President of the Puerto Rico Sommelier Association, the sommelier from Concha y Toro’s distributor Ballester, the sommelier of “The House” wine shop, and others had the opportunity to learn more about the process that results in one of Chile’s—and the world’s—most outstanding Cabernet Sauvignons.
During the tasting, which included the 2012 vintage of Don Melchor and the seven blocks that go into the final blend, the group noted the unique qualities that the Don Melchor Vineyard brings to the wine. The group of sommeliers—which also included three members of The Perfect Tasting, a program that brings together the industry’s most talented and promising sommeliers—also enjoyed a luncheon at the Wine Bar in Pirque and a tour during which they learned more about the history of one of Chile’s most emblematic wines.
BRANDING MARQUES DE CASA CONCHA AND SUBERCASEAUX / BRAZIL
SUCCESSFUL SHOP WINDOW CAMPAIGN IN SAO PAULO Marques de Casa Concha was recently the focus of a successful advertising campaign in the shop window of Ville du Vin wine shop in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The campaign featured the brand’s Cabernet Sauvignon—a favorite in the local market—as well as Concha y Toro’s Ultra Premium sparkling wine, Subercaseaux, and allowed consumers to learn more about these brands under Papa’s direction.
WINES OF ORIGIN / BRAZIL
PORTO ALEGRE ORGANIZES SUCCESSFUL LAUNCH OF ICONS AND ULTRA PREMIUM BRANDS Carmín de Peumo, Concha y Toro’s icon Carmenere, and Gravas del Maipo Syrah were just two of the Chilean wines featured in the Porto Alegre wine shop Terrunyo in March. Don Melchor was also showcased with a window display entirely dedicated to the “Three Decades” collection. The set includes the 1988, 1993, 1999, 2001, 2005 and 2007 vintages and invites consumers to discover and appreciate the extraordinary potential of this wine, which is a true expression of a Cabernet Sauvignon from the exceptional terroir of that Puente Alto vineyard.
RECOGNITIONS
WINE SPECTATOR
WINE SPECTATOR
WINE SPECTATOR
92 points
91 points
90 points
TERRUNYO
TERRUNYO
GRAN RESERVA SERIE RIBERAS
CARMENERE 2013
CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2013
CARMENERE 2014
MEDIA CLIPPING
WEB
WEB
MAGAZINE
WINE SPECTATOR
JANCIS ROBINSON.COM
VINES MAG
UNITED STATES
UNITED STATES
CANADA
MARCH 2016
MARCH 2016
M O N T H LY N E W S
FINE WINE COLLECTION
MARCH 2016