中国和智利签署自由贸易协定以来，智利葡萄酒在中国市场拓展迅速。2016年中国散装葡萄酒最大来源国是智利，最新数据显示，智利红酒出口到中国达到近2亿美元，中国已取代美国成为智利出口葡萄酒价值利润最高的国家，智利驻华大使Jorge Heine先生和商务参赞贝安之先生在智利顶级酿造师10周年庆典的瑞吉品酒会上给我们的信息。
网上数据显示2016年，智利向中国出口的葡萄酒总额高达1亿9,500万美元（约合人民币13亿4,068万元），位居智利葡萄酒出口市场第一位。美国以1亿8,300万美元（约合人民币12亿5,818万元）紧随中国之后，为智利出口葡萄酒第二大国；英国以1亿4,800万美元（约合人民币10亿1,755万元）位列第三。与2015年相比，美国和英国的智利葡萄酒进口总额分别下降了8%和9%。这些数据说明了一个现象：中国市场对世界主要葡萄酒产酒国产生的影响日益深远。
智利独特的地理环境和气候造就了别有风味的葡萄酒，在10周年庆典上，CEO Rafael Prieto给我们推荐了不少酒，印象深刻。
5×20: 男士vs女士 2010年TW 5×20 FEMALE vs MALE 2010
五位女酿酒师的用赤霞珠酿造的酒：一款极具诱惑力的葡萄酒五位男酿酒师的用西拉酿造的酒：富有张力的葡萄酒
智利百佳橡木桶 赤霞珠 2011年TW 100 Barrels Cabernet Sauvignon Vintage 2011
从100个葡萄园挑选品种+100位酿酒师+100个橡木桶=成就1瓶葡萄酒，从这样一瓶葡萄酒中能喝到什么？能感知到整个智利
智利的50个橡木桶 佳美娜 2012年TW 50 Barrels Carmenere Vintage 2012
50个葡萄园+50位酿造师+50个橡木桶=1瓶葡萄酒，造就这批即传统游独具创新的佳美娜
智利三轴心 2013年 赤霞珠 vs 佳美 vs 西拉TW 3 Axis of Chile CABERNET SAUVIGNON vs CARMENERE vs SYRAH三款代表智利三种不同的大规模葡萄产区的葡萄酒，从沙漠到峡谷再到平原，就好像要带领人们在智利展开一场从北到南的旅行！
TOP WINEMAKERS: TEN YEARS IN 10 BOTTLES.
A decade ago Rafael Prieto came up with a crazy idea: Join together 10 winemakers to make ten different wines all with one same variety as base grape. The result? A wine named Bicentennial, which was offered as a gift to President Obama’s visit to Chile, this gave birth to Top Winemakers, an unheard of project seeking to potentiate the creativity of Wine Making of our country, Chile.
After this project, Prieto continued to experiment and among many other achievements he was able to work with 100 Wineries from all of Chile jointly working in the making of an exceptional Cabernet named “100 Barrels of Chile”. Here the best 10 Projects (and bottles) of his ten years of winemaking innovation.
By: Pedro Arraztio.
1.- BICENNTENIAL (2007).
This is the result of our first project which marks the beginning of Top Winemakers. The challenge was to work with 10 winemakers from different wineries to make one wine each, using all the same grape variety. In this first experiment the grapes used would be
Cabernet Sauvignon from Alto Maipo. The 10 winemakers had been given up to a 30% of blending other grape varieties into the 70% of the base grapes so as to have an individual character in each bottle. The results are ten excellent wines each one with its own personality and style.
2.- 5 X 20 CABERNET SAUVIGNON (2010).
With 5 X 20 Top Winemakers a new era had begun where work tables were established with the highest level of winemakers all from Chile. Here the idea was to make two different groups where 5 female winemakers and 5 men winemakers would each make their groups wine, (Each winemaker would supply 20% of original wine base not blended). From the female team we obtained this seductive Cabernet Sauvignon with good concentration, balanced, fresh and with good acidity. A proposal that turns away from oenological stoicism generating a solid and honest wine, which exudes female sophistication.
3.- 5 X 20 SYRAH (2010).
The men’s counterpart of the 5 X 20 project developed a Syrah which resulted in a tense and firm wine, with nerve. The objective of the team of winemakers was to get away from the heavy and mature, making up a wine with a more aroma proposal. It is a fibrous, fresh and low in tannins that respects the acidity and represents very clearly the differences of terroir of the fresher climates of the Coastal Range.
4.- 100 BARRELS OF CHILE.
This is the Star initiative of Top Winemakers and also the most ambitious. The whole idea was to “Show Chile in One Bottle”. We reunited 100 of Chile’s most well-known wineries all highly qualified to obtain one single wine. Each winery selected one barrel, not blended, from their valley and according to their style from the 2011 harvest, contributing for1% of the final wine blend. In spite of the risks of this proposal, this was achieved by means of many blind tastings and voting from the 100 winemakers involved in this project come up with this exclusive wine of medium body alive and fresh, which stands out for its elegance and fine tannins with balanced wood and rich in hues.
5.- 50 BARRELS OF CHILE (2012).
After the success of the previous project, Top Winemakers decided to continue these ideas and this time we thought we had to render a homage to the “Par excellence” grape variety of Chile: Carmenére, to celebrate the 20 th anniversary of the re-discovery of this variety in Chile.(November 24 th 1994).
With this in mind we reunited 50 winemakers from fifty different wineries each of which, would supply one barrel of Carmenére , not blended from the 2012 harvest. This is a modern and authentic Carmenére with a great expression, with notes of black fruits,
spices and herbal tones. A wine that doesn’t tire you and is velvety in mouth.
6.- 3 AXIS OF CHILE CABERNET SAUVIGNON (2013).
The main objective of this project was to obtain an “X-Ray” of Chile’s geography. Showing the very best of the Andes, the central transverse valleys and the coastal range to obtain a wine which would be representative, by means of 10 wineries from each of these geographical locations. This Cabernet Sauvignon inherent from the Andes Mountains is characterized by its freshness, with structure, where we find red and black fruits as also spices. An elegant wine with good acidity, long, profound and easy to understand.
7.- 3 AXIS OF CHILE CARMENERE (2013).
As representative of the transversal valleys, this is a Carmenére that to the nose it feels very typical, with notes of black fruits and in mouth with soft tannins. A mature wine because of its acidity, modern and elegant, where the wood coming from behind is a very
good complement. Certain tones of herbs and spices. Long to the middle and complex.
8.- 3 AXIS OF CHILE SYRAH (2013).
On its own, this Syrah that comes from the coastal range of the Pacific Ocean clearly demonstrates the influence of the colder climates. This is a fresh wine, with lots of aromas present, where we can distinguish flowers and acids from red fruits, pepper and above all black olives. To the mouth soft tannins a touch of mineral and soft wood. It is a complex wine, concentrated, long and juicy.
9.- TOP MALBEC CHILE (2014).
This is a totally different challenge, where we were searching to make a Premium wine with a grape variety that Chile was not particularly prominent with: The Malbec. For this purpose we selected 12 wineries whom some had the best results in this variety together with others that were beginning to work with this grape. After visiting Argentina to see first-hand how they work this variety to make the best out of it we made our own bottle,which shows a diverse and creative Chile able to compete with the best Malbec of theworld.
10.- TOP BLEND CHILE (2015).
Searching for new challenges, Top Winemakers developed this project which shall be the “stable product” for the brand. The concept is to reunite in one bottle 12 wineries from 8 different valleys in which each winery stands out for a specific variety of grape. The results of this exclusive blend, unheard of in regards to the integration of textures, flavours and aromas so despair. This reflexes in the palate the personality of the Chilean wine, being balanced, fresh and with character.