13 October 2010 – CHILE’S ICON WINES SWEEP 5 OUT OF THE 6 TOP POSITIONS IN BLIND TASTING IN HONG KONG WITH TOP WINE PROFESSIONALS

Many of Hong Kong and Asia’s top wine tasters including sommeliers, journalists and wine buyers converged at the Grand Hyatt Hotel on Wednesday 13th October, to participate in Hong Kong´s recreation of the landmark Berlin Tasting. Its purpose – to allow the opportunity for local palates to evaluate the world class status of top Chilean wines tasted blind alongside wines acknowledged as being among the very best in the world.

Seventy–two tasters tasted ten wines blind without any clue as to the origin, variety or vintage of the wines. The results, calculated by an independent body, placed the top Chilean wines in the top 5 out of 6 positions. Only one French wine ranked among the top six, while the iconic wines from Chile dominated the top rankings.

The Hong Kong Berlin Tasting was hosted by the President of Viña Errazuriz, Eduardo Chadwick. Joining Eduardo was Jeannie Cho Lee, the first Asian Master of Wine who chaired this morning-long tasting. After the results were announced, Jeannie commented, “I thought the event was a great success. I was surprised by the results because the Hong Kong market is so attuned to French wines that I was expecting the Bordeaux first growths to place much higher than it did. The Errazuriz family wines won a lot of respect from the audience today by going up against the very best and ranking higher by the local palates. I congratulate Eduardo, not just for having the vision to produce such fantastic iconic wines, but also for forging a strong legacy not just for Errazuriz but for the whole of Chile. This is truly a great achievement.”

Eduardo Chadwick was thrilled with the results and commented, “I believe Chile is recognized as a viticultural paradise and this tasting result is testament to our capability of creating world class wines. Our wines have shown consistently high quality over the past six years of holding twelve Berlin Tastings around the world. I am delighted that the Hong Kong audience today has recognized the inherent quality of our top wines from Chile.”