One of the most encouraging results was the number of successful newcomers. Much the same can be said for chardonnay.Red wines stole the show with cabernet sauvignon demonstrating that Chile is a potential world-beater in the £5-£15 range. Then, for me, caramelised calves’ sweetbreads with artichoke heart and salsify, a tricky combination of three delicate but distinctive flavours which was over-reliant on the saucing for its effect. Carmenere, syrah and red blends are all exciting prospects, merlot perhaps less so, with a handful of interesting wines being made from pinot noir, malbec and carignan.
This is where Chile most needs to improve its showing if it is to change perceptions that the wines offer at best value for money.Even allowing for our comfortable surroundings in Santiago, the medal tally awarded by the six UK and three Chilean judges was impressive: 24 gold medals, 37 silvers and 141 bronzes from a total of 436 wines judged. Chile now needs to go the extra mile to produce sauvignon of world-class quality by sacrificing a degree of quantity for quality. Sauvignon blancs showed plenty of aromatic varietal character with some luscious tropical fruit flavours and crisp, bone-dry finishes. The immediate aim was to showcase wines selling for between £4.99-£15. Getting the notoriously cagey Chileans to agree to have their wines tasted blind, under international rules, was a coup in itself.
Its director, Michael Cox, formerly with Australian company Yalumba, took a leaf out of the Australian book to help set up the first Chile Annual Wine Awards. In just six years, 50,000 new hectares have been planted, doubling the country’s vineyards, which have benefited from better vines and progress in matching grape variety to location.Another significant step was the establishment last year of a London office. Chileans have been content to milk their sun-blessed vineyards to feed our habit for affordability.I can’t put my finger on exactly when Chile awoke from its torpor, but its more clear-sighted producers must have twigged that something had to give from around the latter half of the 1990s. Wine drinkers love Chilean wines because they represent value for money. Supermarkets adore them because they can, and do, shift conveyor-belt loads under their own labels.