{"id":16322,"date":"2017-07-04T17:04:22","date_gmt":"2017-07-04T21:04:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/?p=16322"},"modified":"2017-07-05T18:32:21","modified_gmt":"2017-07-05T22:32:21","slug":"errazuriz-wines-chiles-cool-climate-grapes-shine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/errazuriz-wines-chiles-cool-climate-grapes-shine\/","title":{"rendered":"Errazuriz Wines: Chile’s Cool Climate Grapes Shine"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Errazuriz<\/a><\/strong>This is the first in a series of team tastings by top reviewers in our community, most of whom are graduates of either the Algonquin College Sommelier Program<\/strong><\/a> or La Cite Collegiale Sommelier Program<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

They share with us their overall impressions from the tasting, as well as reviews of each of the wines presented. You’ll also find their reviews shared on Twitter and Facebook as they are all very active on social media.<\/p>\n

“The Errazuriz wine tasting at Daly\u2019s restaurant in Ottawa on September 26th was an absolute treat. Francisco Baettig, head winemaker at Errazuriz, is a supremely knowledgeable and personable speaker.<\/p>\n

I enjoyed listening to Francisco speaking about the emphasis his house puts on geography and clim\"Errarzuriz\"<\/a>ate. With Chile has mostly a warm Mediterranean climate, Francisco spoke about the winery\u2019s expansion of vineyards that stretches further west to within 12 kilometers of the tempered Pacific coast.<\/p>\n

This enables Errazuriz to produce elegant \u2018cool-climate\u2019 grapes, such as their Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, in addition to their portfolio of warm-climate grapes like Carmen\u00e8re, Syrah, and Cabernet Sauvignon.<\/p>\n

Francisco also puts emphasis on what he calls the \u2018well-equilibrated\u2019 vintages like 2010, meaning they are welcomed as a bit cooler of a vintage to balance out their production needs. All in all this was a fantastic tasting experience!”\u00a0 – Tom Vigeant\"errazuriz1\"<\/a><\/strong>“We enjoyed a very polished and well-organized tasting from Chilean house Errazuriz yesterday. Francisco Baettig, head winemaker, is extremely informative and educational. Sitting at the southwest corner of Daly’s restaur\"Jane<\/a>ant, we enjoyed a beautiful sunny September afternoon overlooking the Rideau Canal, while learning about Chile’s premier family wine estate.<\/p>\n

Errazuriz offers excellent wines for every budget.<\/p>\n

I was surprised to learn that Canada is their #2 importer, after the UK. I also finally learned how to pronounce Aconcagua!\u00a0 Think Akonkagwa, with emphasis on kag.<\/p>\n

Many thanks for this delightful event and opportunity.” – Jane Staples\"Errazuriz<\/a><\/strong>“The passion and enthusiasm of Francisco Baettig amazed me. Despite a grueling Quebec-Ontario tour of four days, he still managed to give an animated and detailed description of the winemaking process for each wine, as well as recounting several vintages before and the prospects for the vintages to come.\"Courtney\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The notable characteristic of Francisco\u2019s wines is their fresh balance of acidity, despite being grown in a very warm and arid country. The main vineyards of Errazuriz are found in the Aconcagua Valley, and its proximity to the Pacific Ocean creates a more Mediterranean climate.<\/p>\n

He harvests many of his grapes much later than other Chilean wineries to keep higher levels of acidity. Wines are grown in limestone soils to impart a distinct minerality; and many of his wines see very little new oak to keep their pure fruit characteristics.<\/p>\n

The Errazuriz wines are balanced, expertly made, and very reasonably priced for their value. This is a winery that is a force to be reckoned with in Chilean wines.” – Courtney Flood<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Errazuriz<\/a>“Most wine lovers are familiar with Chili\u2019s flagship cabernets, carmeneres and chardonnays, and Errazuriz certainly produces some of the country\u2019s best. What I was most impressed with, however, were the efforts deployed by \"Tom<\/a>winemaker Francisco Baettig to achieve great results with a wider range of wines, including syrah, and cool-climate varieties such as pinot noir and sauvignon blanc, and even roussanne, marsanne and viognier.<\/p>\n

It was interesting to learn about the evolution of Errazuriz\u2019s vineyards in the cooler coastal regions of Chile and how they have contributed to this diversity.<\/p>\n

I also enjoyed hearing about (and validating first hand!) Mr. Baettig\u2019s refreshing preference for making wines with balanced acidity in which the character of the fruit is not masked by an overly heavy hand on the oak.” – Tom Vigeant<\/strong><\/p>\n

“On September 26th, I had the pleasure of attending an intimate wine tasting with the Chilean house Errazuriz and head winemaker Francisco Baettig. Francisco is a fifth generation winemaker at Errazuriz dating back to 1870. Francisco imparted many interesting facts:<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Errazuriz has 8 winemakers in total<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Valle Aconcagua is red wine terroir due to warm climate, less rain<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Casablanca is mostly white wine (and Pinot noir) terroir due to proximity to Pacific, cool winds.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Chile exports 70% of its wine to the UK, Canada and the US. Canada is #2.\"Heather<\/a><\/p>\n

5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 When Carmenere was discovered in Chile it was confused with Merlot. It was called Chilean Merlot.<\/p>\n

6.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Chile grows good Malbec but does not want to fight commercially with Argentina so Chile doesn’t promote Malbec production.<\/p>\n

7.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The last 3-5 years Chile has experimented with new areas, varietals, dry farming with less Bordeaux influence \u2013 work with what they have ie: lots of sunlight, warm temps and little rain during growing season.<\/p>\n

8.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In 1993, Syrah came to Chile via French clones. Errazuriz was the first to plant it.<\/p>\n

9.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 At Errazuriz they prefer new French oak so as not to impart too much smoke or vanilla aromas and flavours.<\/p>\n

I came away with a good sense of Francisco Baettig’s passion for wine and winemaking. The wines we tasted were all splendid and unique in their own way. As Francisco explained the process in making each of the wines he was very animated. Once again it affirmed my belief that making really good wines is truly an art and in the heart.” – Heather Wall<\/strong><\/p>\n

“It was very evident to me just how passionate Francesco Baettig is about his winemaking.\u00a0 As he referred to economi\"Rachelle<\/a>cs and the wine exporting business, I found it interesting that the Canadian wine consumers are especially well regarded by the Chilean winery.<\/p>\n

The U.K. and Canada that are their major wine export markets, whereas for other Chilean wineries it is most often the U.S. and U.K. that are number one and number two, respectively.<\/p>\n

It was a wonderful experience to meet Francisco Baettig – he exuded un unmistakable talent and passion for his creations. I appreciated the detailed description of the Aconagua Costa vineyards – a very short commute to the Pacific Ocean.<\/p>\n

Francesco was superb in his classic description of the vine to table methods and it was really quite something to share in his passion. We sampled some truly wonderful wines and I left with a much broader knowledge of his vision – his ability to have the wines showcase “where they came from” – striving to make the vineyards represent themselves- while exuding characteristics of elegance, complexity, purity and lots of personality.” – Rachelle O’Connor<\/strong><\/p>\n

“In 1870\u00a0 Don Maximiano Errazuriz planted a vineyard in Panquehue, a small town located North of Santiago in the Aconcagua Valley. Not too long afterwards, Don Maximiano Errazuriz, with the help of his son, Rafael, would own the world’s largest single owner vineyard (~ 700 hectares).\u00a0 With 140+ vintages under their belt, Errazuriz has made a name for themselves as a pioneer in the Chilean wine industry.<\/p>\n

Fast forward 100 years…believe it or not, it was only in the 1980s that Chile began exporting their wine, and now they export a whopping 70% (most countries only dream of doing that).\u00a0 Foreign markets are enjoying Chilean wines and have been for quite some time.<\/p>\n

Chile’s 1000km long stretch of wine regions is producing very interesting wines with sense of place \"Matt<\/a>thanks to the unique terroir found in the different regions.\u00a0 Head winemaker Francisco Baettig speaks passionately about the unique terroir they have to work with in their portfolio of vineyards.\u00a0 From coastal, Mediterranean, to more inland, flat and hilly, dry and foggy, they’ve got a lot of land and micro climates to experiment with and from the wines I tasted it appears they’re on the right track.<\/p>\n

Francisco and his wine making team have done a remarkable job at showcasing the purity of the wines they produce whether it’s their sub $20 Max Reserva line or their premium ICON range of wines.\u00a0 With minimal to modest oak programs on each of their wines, they’re striving to capture the best varietal characteristics in each wine without heavy doses of oak to mask undesirable characteristics that are often present in lesser wines.\u00a0 Francisco’s mission to produce complex yet elegant wines appears to be working well.<\/p>\n

Stand out wines for me included each of their ICON wines along with their Max Reserva Carmenere and Max Reserva Sauvignon Blanc.” – Matt Steves<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wines Tasted<\/strong><\/p>\n

Click through to see the reviews<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\u00a0\"Errazuriz<\/a><\/td>\nErr\u00e1zuriz Pinot Noir<\/strong><\/a><\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n\u00a0\"Errazuriz<\/a><\/td>\nErr\u00e1zuriz Sauvignon Blanc<\/strong><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0\"Errazuriz<\/a><\/td>\nErr\u00e1zuriz Cabernet Sauvignon<\/strong><\/a><\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n\"LaCumbre\"<\/a><\/td>\nErr\u00e1zuriz La Cumbre Shiraz<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0\"LaEscultura<\/a><\/td>\nErr\u00e1zuriz La Escultura Estate Chardonnay<\/strong><\/a><\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n\u00a0\"Errazuriz<\/a><\/td>\nErrazuriz Max Reserva Sauvignon Blanc<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0\"errzuriz<\/a><\/td>\nErr\u00e1zuriz Max Reserva Syrah<\/strong><\/a><\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n\u00a0\"carmenere<\/a><\/td>\nErr\u00e1zuriz Max Reserva Carmenere<\/strong><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0\"Don<\/a><\/td>\nErr\u00e1zuriz Don Maximiano<\/strong><\/a><\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n\u00a0\"Kai\"<\/a><\/td>\nErr\u00e1zuriz Kai, Vi\u00f1edos Max<\/strong><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\"Errazuriz<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is the first in a series of team tastings by top reviewers in our community, most of whom are graduates of either the Algonquin College Sommelier Program or La Cite Collegiale Sommelier Program. They share with us their overall impressions from the tasting, as well as reviews of each of the wines presented. You’ll also find their reviews shared on Twitter and Facebook as they are all very active on social media. “The Errazuriz wine tasting at Daly\u2019s restaurant in Ottawa on September 26th was an absolute treat. Francisco Baettig, head winemaker at Errazuriz, is a supremely knowledgeable and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[214,490,946,293,1086,8,1263,1153,1261,295,1262,372,207,211,473,29,1264,394,27,299],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cabernet-sauvignon","category-carmenere-chile","category-chardonnay","category-chile-wine","category-courtney-flood","category-events","category-heather-wall","category-jane-staples","category-matt-steves","category-pinot-noir","category-rachelle-oconnor","category-red-wine","category-sauvignon-blanc","category-shiraz","category-syrah","category-taste-wine","category-tom-vigeant","category-white-wine","category-wine-writing","category-winemaker-dinner"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16322"}],"version-history":[{"count":31,"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16322\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23879,"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16322\/revisions\/23879"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}