When President of India Pratibha Patil went to Chile in April this year, part of the interesting sightseeing tours her entourage enjoyed was a visit to Viña Errazuriz and meet Eduardo Chadwick, the charismatic President of the company and a hero of the Berlin Tasting.
 'Ich bin ein Berliner,' the late President John F Kennedy had said.
Perhaps, the resounding words were repeated by another President in 2004. Eduardo Chadwick, President of the Chilean Viña Errazuriz must have been elated with joy and hummed, 'Ich bin ein Berliner'. Actually, Viñedo Chadwick, Seña 2000 and '01- the top wines from his stable were the real heroes, thanks to the Berlin Tasting.
Eduardo's eyes lit up while reminiscing about the Berlin Tasting 2004 over a glass of Viñedo Chadwick adding as we chatted and enjoyed the sumptuous Chinese lunch prepared under the expert eyes and nose of Walter Lanfranchi, the new Executive Chef at Shangri-la.
What is Berlin Tasting
'We wanted to showcase to the world that Chile has its own terroir and they should compare our wines with that of Bordeaux and Tuscany. We decided to invite professionals, journalists and critics taste our best against some great wines. We selected sixteen wines - six Chilean, six French and four Italian from the 2000 and 2001 vintages.'
'Steven Spurrier who had conducted the Judgment at Paris 1976 tastings with top Bordeaux and California wines had agreed to conduct the blind tastings. The blind tastings were conducted in Berlin and that's how the event came to be known as Berlin Tasting.'
'I was very thrilled when Seña 2000 was judged at no. 5 position. We did not expect our wines to do so well against the likes of Margaux, Latour, Lafitte and Sassicaia. You can imagine how pleased we were when Seña 2001 was declared no. 2 and the Viñedo Chadwick came out a winner!'
 'Similar results were achieved by our wines in tastings that followed in Brazil, Tokyo, Toronto, which continued to be known as Berlin Tasting due to the unique style of tasting.'
Was the idea a take off on the 1976 Tasting? 'Honestly, I had not even heard of that tasting at the time - it was before my time. I came to know of it only later,' says Eduardo with a laugh.
How about a Berlin Tasting in India
'How about organising one in India?' I ask Eduardo. 'We are getting at least 5 international judges and Robert Joseph who is the chairman of the India Wine Challenge will be here this November. The Ambassador of Chile, H.E. Alfonso Silva had already assured us a complete support for the project at the Delhi Wine Club dinner yesterday. What better idea to create awareness in India about the top quality of Chilean wines?' I inform him.
'That sounds like a good idea. We could really work on it,' he says enthusiastically. Showing me a picture of Robert nosing a wine, he tells me,' Robert is a good friend. He conducted a tasting for us in 2003.' Since Steven also comes to India frequently, this could be a workable project, I assure him.
Where do the Chilean wines come from
'Chile used to be a big wine consuming nation in 1800s. Our per capita had peaked to 90 Liters. But we had started having some problems with alcoholism. In order to control consumption, the government started imposing heavy taxes. In the early 1900s the consumption had started to come down.'
'Then came prohibition of a different kind, in 1930. For the next 30 years there was a ban on planting new vines. There was no technology improvement till the eighties. In the seventies the industry had collapsed. There was more wine than could be consumed. The quality was poor and there was no scope for exports. The military regime was not conducive to wine promotion.'
Spanish Influence on wines
 It is believed that the Spanish conquistadores brought vines with them in the mid sixteenth century and that gave a start to the wine industry? 'I won't say that Spain contributed to the wine development in Chile. They were never keen for the colonies to produce their own wine.'
'The real development started in 1850s when the country became rich because of mining. People started to travel to France. My great-great grandfather Maximiano was also a rich miner who went to Bordeaux and started a winery.'
What about Torres coming to Spain in the seventies with technology and improving the quality, as many believe?
'I won't go that far. He did bring a few things like temperature control in fermentation. But that was not enough to improve the quality to where we are today.'
Robert Mondavi
We were very happy when Bob and Tim decided to join hands with us. Together we explored the right type of soil and climate and decided on the Aconcagua Valley in the North, where Seña was born. This was a partnership to prove to the world that we could produce and compete with the best in the world. It was a 50-50 partnership.
When Mondavi sold off to Constellation we negotiated with him to get a complete control of the company. I should say that our partnership with Mondavi has helped us consolidate our prestige as a group.
Distribution company in UK
Our first exports were to UK-our biggest market. In 1994 we formed a joint venture company with Louis Jadot of Burgundy to market our wines along with other wines. We were the first Chilean company to have our own distribution in UK. This JV, Hatch Mansfield Agencies is doing extremely well. 70% of our exports take place in that country, thanks to the JV.
Carmenere - King of Chilean Vines?
'Just like Malbec is a signature grape of Argentina, despite it being originally a Bordeaux varietal. Shiraz is a grape of Australia, Pinotage is from South Africa, why don't the producers come together and define Carmenere as the signature grape, I ask?
Carmenere is not an easy grape to grow, when the climate is not warm. French discarded it after Phylloxera killed it. We continued growing it thinking it was Merlot, till we got some specialists from Bordeaux, who helped us identify it.
Earlier it used to be green and leafy. One needed to plant it in the sunny area. It was not feasible to get an early ripening. But in proper environment we can get good wine from this grape now.
We, at Errazuriz have developed KAI- a premium wine from Carmenere, which is doing very well in the US.'
Caps or corks?
'All our white wines and Pinot Noirs use screwcaps. We are very confident they are the best for all but long-aging wines where they have not been tested fully. But we were tired with the problem of corks. 80% of wines imported in the UK are now with screwcaps. But we do not plan changing the closures on our iconic wines.'
Chadwick- the wine master
 Eduardo believes in the continuous process in wine education. He is constantly engaging himself in various wine seminars throughout the world. In fact, the Berlin Wine Tasting was preceded by a seminar he conducted. The UK joint venture employs 3 Masters of Wine. 'We must have the best in terms of wine knowledge in our team,' he believes.
He may be a wine master but has not become the Master of Wine-not yet. 'I don't get time to finish my thesis,' he says. But he supports the Master of Wine programme in Chile and hopes to be one himself-eventually.
Promoter of Chilean Wines
Eduardo Chadwick not only promotes his wines, he believes there is need to promote Chilean wines- not only as value-for-money wines but high quality wines. 'We also need to tell the sophisticated consumers about the different terroirs in Chile and how we make unique wines.'
Not surprising, this Chilean Wine Ambassador and producer extraordinaire with impeccable British mannerisms was honoured by Decanter as one of the world's top 50 most influential wine persons in the world in 2005.
The Ambassador of Chile, H.E. Mr. Alfonso Silva had told me recently that his country is now producing a few top quality wines selling for more than $100 but they competed and gave value which wines costing over $300 in the west did. He perhaps was referring to Viñedo Chadwick from Eduardo Chadwick, which retails for over $140 in the USA.
Subhash Arora
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