LOLOL: HACIENDA ARAUCANO
It was the second visit within 6 months to a winery belonging to the FRANÇOIS LURTON group. Read HERE about my visit to Bodega Lurton in Mendoza, where I met winemaker Luca Hodgkinson personally. Please read also the impressive story of the Lurton wine family at their website. FRANÇOIS LURTON runs a big amount of [...]
SAN ANTONIO: AMAYNA, THE MAGIC STORM
The first post-competition visit brought us, my two colleagues, fellow-judges and friends Romain Batya (Luxemburg), Roberto Gatti (Italy) and I, to the Leyda Valley in San Antonio. The Garcés Silva Winery (Amayna) was since a few years on my shortlist, and I was really happy to visit it at least. I discovered the Amayna wines [...]
APRIL 2010 PRESS TRIP CHILE: CASA MARÍN
Viña CASA MARÍN is located in the village of Lo Albarca, in the San Antonio Valley, only some 4 kilometers behind the Pacific coast. This proximity to the Ocean (the closest in Chile), the unique microclimate, the step rolling hills and the diversity of pre-Andean soils make it a perfect terroir for high quality wines. [...]
APRIL 2010 PRESS TRIP CHILE: TABALÍ & LEYDA
Going to Limarí and Elquí was a dream of mine, like being able to go to Bío-Bío and Malleco sometime in the future. These regions have been ‘rediscovered’ quite recently and the wines coming from there are really booming. No doubt for me about it, we certainly will hear, see and taste many more from [...]
CONCOURS MONDIAL 2010: CHILE GOES FOR GOLD!
Right, France is once again the absolute winner of the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles 2010, with 606 medals (401 Silver, 191 Gold and 14 Great Gold Medals) obtained by 2277 samples presented. Surely a great performance, and of course the Spanish did well too, with their second place: 378 medals (225 Silver, 136 Gold and [...]