It’s 20 years since Eduardo Chadwick gathered some of Europe’s most famous wine writers for a blind tasting – one to rival the famous 1976 Judgement of Paris (when California proved its wines could compete with – and beat – France’s best). Chadwick was convinced that critics were underestimating Chilean wines – for no reason other than snobbery against the nation. The Berlin Tasting pitched Chadwick’s top wines (Viñedo Chadwick, Seña and Don Maximiano Founder’s Reserve) against Bordeaux’s First Growths and a lone Super Tuscan (Antinori’s Solaia). Chadwick charged the late Steven Spurrier with running the event. “I never imagined that what happened was about to happen,” Chadwick tells me. To his and everyone else’s amazement, the 2000 Viñedo Chadwick took the top spot, followed by 2001 Seña, then 2000 Ch. Lafite Rothschild, and 2000 Ch. Margaux – tied equally in fourth place with 2000 Seña. Finally, there was proof that Chile’s wines deserved a place on the world stage.  But, for Chadwick, one watershed moment wasn’t enough. He repeated the tasting, first in São Paulo, then Tokyo – and onward, hosting the same blind tasting 22 times around the world, all with similarly spectacular results for his wines. It takes nerves of steel – and a certain amount of ego – to be willing to risk repeating such a tasting, and yet Chadwick was justly rewarded. His campaign is just one way in which he has forged a path for fine, Chilean wine – with a relentless, dogged determination.  Chadwick is the fifth generation of his family to make wine in Chile. Don Maximiano Errázuriz emigrated from the Basque country and was the first to plant vines in the Aconcagua Valley in 1870. He identified the location, 100km north of Santiago, with its cool ocean breezes, hot summers and rainy winters, as perfect for growing grapes. Operating under the motto of, “from the best land, the best wine”, he planted vines in this idyllic site, near Panquehue, and built a winery – that still stands today.  Gradually, the business grew – and it became the largest vineyard in the world owned by an individual, with 1,300 hectares under vine at its peak in the late 19th century. Despite this early prosperity, Chile’s wine industry didn’t continue to thrive. There was no export market and domestic consumption (which reached up to 80 litres per capita annually) was slashed by severe taxation, while political and economic turbulence, with communist then military rule, put not just the industry, but nation, in crisis. By the early 1980s, wine was cheaper than water and around half of the nation’s vines were ripped out.  It was onto this unstable scene that Eduardo Chadwick arrived. He had initially trained as an industrial engineer before deciding to focus on wine instead, going to study in Bordeaux under the legendary oenologist Emile Peynaud. His father bought the family winery back from the banks, and Chadwick started dusting away the cobwebs, re-opening Viña Errázuriz and – armed with new, technical knowledge – made the first vintage of Don Maximiano Founder’s Reserve, the property’s flagship wine, in 1984. The operation was still rudimentary – with rauli vats (a native hardwood), no temperature control and pergola vines planted on the fertile flats – but it was an early indication of what was possible. Tasting the wine four decades later, it’s held up remarkably well – with surprising vibrancy on the nose and a chiselled, savoury profile of pure Cabernet Sauvignon.  Gradually, Chadwick invested in equipment – stainless steel tanks, modern presses and barrels – and started to plant vineyards on slopes with poorer soils. Alongside this shift, pivotal elections in 1989 saw Chile become a democracy once more – and key figures from the world of wine visited. Soon entry-level wines were being exported by the likes of Oddbins and Victoria Wine. The doors had opened for Chilean wine. Robert Mondavi visited Chadwick in 1991 – and the two men hit it off, sharing an unrelenting drive to push their industry forward, and Mondavi recognised in Chile the potential he had seen in Napa in the 1960s. He knew that his partnership with Ch. Mouton Rothschild (Opus One) had been key to changing Napa’s reputation – and the duo hoped that their own joint venture might do the same for Chile: Seña (literally meaning “signal”) was born. Bob’s son, Tim Mondavi worked with Chadwick on the project and suggested looking for a site closer to the coast in the Aconcagua Valley, in search of even greater finesse, producing the first vintage in 1995.  And Chadwick didn’t stop there. His father had purchased an estate in the Alto Maipo in 1945, home to a polo field (Eduardo’s father, Alfonso, had captained the Chilean team for years). In 1992, Chadwick convinced his father to let him transform the polo field – with its pure gravel soils and 15˚C diurnal swing – into a vineyard, feeling it was perfect for Cabernet Sauvignon. Alfonso died the following year, but the first vintage of this project – Viñedo Chadwick, named in honour of his father – was made in 1999.   Chadwick knew the wines were good – but convincing the world of that fact was the challenge. He’s clear that Chile made a major error in churning out great-value, entry-level wines – good, but not fine wines – a price-point that came to define the nation. “That’s why it was very difficult to convince the audience that we can also produce world-class wines,” says Chadwick. “Chile had no recognition. We had no ratings, no Parker points, no Suckling points.” And so he set about changing that with the Berlin Tasting.  With that event’s market-shifting results (then echoed around the world), he’d created momentum for change. A decade later, he went on to break through another boundary: the 2014 Viñedo Chadwick became the first Chilean wine to earn 100 points (from James Suckling). Just last year, the 2021 vintage was the first Chilean wine rated 100 points by the Wine Advocate. When I sat down with him March this year, it was at an event paying tribute to the two decades that have passed since the Berlin Tasting – featuring early vintages from each estate, and their greatest successes. The 1998 Seña was a particular standout – a cool vintage that today is perfumed, elegant, bright and effortlessly long. Any doubters of Chilean wine were instantly quieted. And, as with the Berlin tasting, the event was being replicated around the globe – the campaign to champion Chilean wine never ending.  When Chadwick started in 1983, Viña Errázuriz had just 10 hectares of vineyard. Today, across their estates, Chadwick farms 900 hectares of vines. He bought out his siblings years ago, when he found they were more interested in dividends than growing and investing in the business. Now three of his four daughters are working alongside him – excited by the potential of coastal sites (where they make the Las Pizarras wines) and a new sparkling project. There has been no shortage of challenges along the way, but they’ve only fuelled Chadwick’s relentless pursuit of recognition for Chile and its wines. “Where we are today is beyond my wildest dreams,” he tells me, and yet it’s only because of his tireless ambition that Chilean wine has made it to this point. Fortunately, it looks like his children have inherited his determination – ready to rule over the next chapter of this epic story.  Explore all listings of Viña Errázuriz, Seña and Viñedo Chadwick or read more about Chile 

In the last 40 years, Eduardo Chadwick has single-handedly forged a place for Chile in the fine wine arena. Two decades after the pivotal Berlin Tasting, Sophie Thorpe sat down with the man himself to explore his legacy – and what lies ahead 

20 years after the Berlin Tasting, we sit down with Eduardo Chadwick – the man that created Chile’s first icon wines, Sena, Vinedo Chadwick and Errazuriz

Championing Chile – Eduardo Chadwick

Championing Chile: Eduardo Chadwick

Wine writer Tamlyn Currin is well known for her love of off-the-beaten track wines, in particular wines from Germany. FONDATA asked her to consider why it is that Riesling fans (of which she is most certainly one) are so much more zealous than fans of other grape varieties.

Examine Riesling's authenticity as a terroir ambassador and its varied styles. Dive into its global celebration and why it's cherished by enthusiasts. 


FONDATA: Exploring Riesling's popularity

Riesling, it’s a tribal thing

Champagne’s climate can be fickle. Of all the fine wine regions around the world it has to be the most unpredictable. Lucie Pereyre de Nonancourt chuckles as she recalls the countless times she has heard the latest vintage described as “unlike any they have seen in 50 years”. She explains: “We hear this all the time. No vintage in Champagne is the same!” It is the region’s capricious nature that dictates the thought process behind Laurent-Perrier’s prestige cuvée, Grand Siècle. A blend of three vintages, all with very different, complementary personalities, the idea is, that when blended together, they capture all the potential qualities a vintage in Champagne is capable of – but are rarely found in one. While Laurent-Perrier is widely recognised as one of the region’s great Champagne houses, Grand Siècle hasn’t necessarily garnered the same sort of attention as other prestige cuvées. Possibly one could argue this is because it is the only non-vintage Grande Marque prestige cuvée – but it is almost definitely because, up until recently, the vintages that made up each new release of Grand Siècle weren’t revealed. That all changed in April 2019 when the house first released Grand Siècle Itération No 24 in bottle and Itération No 22 in magnum – identifying the blend of vintages and what each brought to the blend. Fundamentally each vintage should bring one of the three elements that can typically define a great Champagne year – structure, freshness and elegance or acidity. There have been just 24 different iterations of Grand Siècle since its conception in 1959. Pereyre’s grandfather and Champagne legend Bernard de Nonancourt first had the idea for the cuvée. (It was Bernard who took Laurent-Perrier from a small Champagne house to one of the region’s most recognised brands.) The concept came to him “from observing nature”, says Pereyre. “Champagne has a difficult climate – every harvest is very different but quality is also very different.” The perfect year didn’t exist. For him, a great Champagne was one that has reached aromatic complexity, without losing any of its vivacity and freshness – and that was the aim with Grand Siècle. Bernard’s concept had three rules. Firstly, it should always be made up of three vintages. Secondly, it should always be Chardonnay-dominant – a signature of the Laurent-Perrier house. And thirdly, it must all come exclusively from the Grands Crus of the Côte des Blancs and Montagne de Reims. Speaking with Pereyre, it becomes clear just how much work and time goes into each Itération of Grand Siècle. Each release is 15 years in the making: once all three vintages have been selected, they are blended then spend at least 10 years on lees. The wines do not see any oak and are made as reductively as possible, another key to the cuvée’s freshness. The wine is only released when ready to drink, but Pereyre is confident each has the potential to age 20, 30, even 40 years without losing its vibrancy. As larger-format bottles evolve more slowly, magnums of each Itération are typically released a couple of years later. Pereyre has spent her life in Champagne. Baptised with Grand Siècle as a baby, it seems fitting that today she is charged with the prestige cuvée. Laurent-Perrier is one of the few Grandes Marques still under family ownership. Her mother and aunt took over from her grandfather in 2010, with Peyeyre joining the business in 2019.  Ever since she joined, Pereyre has been training under the watchful eye of Chef de Cave Michel Fauconnet, one of Champagne’s most experienced winemakers. Fauconnet has been working at Laurent-Perrier since 1974 and headed up the winemaking in 2004. He is also the winemaker of the illustrious Salon (also owned by Laurent-Perrier). Fauconnet has Pereyre studying how each parcel tastes, how it develops and how it works in the blend. While Grand Siècle always comes from 11 Grands Crus – Mailly, Ambonnay, Bouzy, Verzy, Verzenay, Tours-sur-Marne in Montagne de Reims, and Cramant, Oger, Mesnil-sur-Oger, Chouilly and Avize in the Côte des Blancs – the proportion in each Itération is different. “The top of the hill versus the bottom can bring very different expressions to each vintage,” says Pereyre. “All the hard work of Champagne is in the blending – every cellar master knows what they have in mind and what style they want to express. Ever since my grandfather created the first Grand Siècle, it has been the cellar master’s job to try to recreate this style – linear, taut, mineral, a lot of acidity, not too open aromatically – but not too acidic and to have some roundness.” It is still very early days for Pereyre, but she is tasting all the time – the only way to learn, and appreciates she is blessed with a great teacher. With the contents of each Itération now in the public domain, the wine is gaining huge scores from the region’s leading critics – perhaps unsurprising given the pedigree of the vineyards and cellar team. Grand Siècle is the greatest expression of Laurent-Perrier’s house style. Browse all Champagne Laurent-Perrier listings

Ahead of the long-awaited release of Grand Siècle Itération No 23 in magnum, we speak to Champagne Laurent-Perrier’s Lucie Pereyre de Nonancourt to find out what’s so special about their prestige cuvée 

We speak to Champagne Laurent-Perrier’s Lucie Pereyre de Nonancourt to find out what’s so special about their prestige cuvée Grand Siècle

Laurent-Perrier Grand Siècle and the perfect year

Laurent-Perrier Grand Siècle: recreating the perfect year

It was the vision of Jacques Perrin in particular – who farmed the property organically from 1950 onwards – that cemented Châteauneuf-du-Pape’s Château de Beaucastel reputation. Today his sons – Jean-Pierre and François – are at the helm, with fifth-generation Marc, Pierre, Thomas, Cécile (Jean-Pierre’s children) and Charles, Mathieu and César (sons of François) also all work full-time at the estate. All seven of the children worked in wineries around the world before returning to the family estate.  A visionary estate The estate was one of the first in Southern Rhône to become organic (in 1950) and then biodynamic (in 1974), making the vineyard better prepared than most for the climate change effects over the last 30 years.  “Beaucastel is the largest Châteauneuf-du-Pape estate in one contiguous plot and it stands at the most northern limit of the appellation. It is a vineyard which is therefore very exposed to the Mistral winds, which has a huge cooling-down effect,” Emmanuel explains, protecting the vineyard from extreme temperatures.  The vineyard is based on a limestone bench covered by a rather atypical mix of clay and sand, topped with diluvium “galets roulés” (pudding stones). It is an incredible terroir that, Emmanuel explains, “allows us to combine power and finesse even in the driest vintages. It has always been considered a benchmark terroir in the area and was in fact a cru before the Châteauneuf appellation was created.”  
The biodynamically farmed old vines have also helped offset the ever-increasing drought pressures in the region. “We are extremely fortunate to have older vines,” Emmanuel says. “The galet roulés covering our vineyards also help prevent water evaporation. So all in all we’ve managed to make great wines even in warmest and driest vintages.” That hasn’t stopped the domaine, however, from continuing to adapt their methods to better cope with the ever-present threat of climate change. “We are learning more and more every year and continue to implement changes we deem necessary.” Alcohol levels in the region have undoubtedly risen, an effect that the estate looks to counter. 
When Jacques Perrin was in charge, he created a very specific vinification technique which he later patented. He would heat up the must to 80˚C, to start fermentation quickly while allowing Jacques to use less Sulphur, helping fix the colour of the wine, particularly with the Mourvèdre grape which has a tendency to lose colour with age. But this method also reduced the greener flavours in the wine, that came from less ripe grapes. 
Today’s climate, however, does not face the same issues, with consistently riper fruit. As a result François and César have phased out this technique, instead opting to whole-berry fermentation, and even whole-cluster ferments for varieties like Syrah, to naturally reduce alcohol levels. These days they also pick earlier, opting for more freshness whereas in the past it was always the goal to maximise ripeness, something that no longer is an issue for the region.  “The estate is always looking at ways to counter the issues of climate change,” Emmanuel continues. “For example, some of the younger Syrah vines are today producing very powerful wines so we are either co-ferment with some Grenache, reincorporating some of the stems in the vat or carry out whole-cluster fermenting,” helping to find better balance in
the wines. In the vineyard too, the team is constantly looking for ways to improve. “We recently tried spraying clay on leaves to limit photosynthesis,” Emmanuel says. The initial experiments have proved positive, but it is still too early to see the long-term effects on the wine
and requires further testing. 
But this experimental approach is everywhere in the property. They continuously make alternate blends that they age in the Beaucastel cellar and over time compare with their main cuvées to see how well the final blend develops versus a different potential version of
the same wine: Emmanuel states the cellars are full of these experiments. 
The domaine has also been assessing how the Beaucastel wines age with different fining techniques. “We do a lot of comparative tastings and assessing of older experimentations. For example, we recently did a horizontal of Château de Beaucastel 1996, where each bottle was fined differently, and identified which fining technique works best for ageing the wine – this is crucial in the development of our knowledge and helps us to make sure decisions taken in the moment are the best ones for the future.” 
Hommage à Jacques Perrin What is distinctive about Château de Beaucastel and the Hommage cuvée in particular is the high proportion of Mourvèdre in the blend. The Hommage is typically made up of 60% Mourvèdre. Emmanuel explains, “Hommage is from our Courrieux lieu-dit parcel, where Mourvèdre was first replanted (post-phylloxera) in 1910. As Mourvèdre is such a late-ripening
varietal, Château de Beaucastel needs an outstanding Indian summer to hope for an Hommage vintage. The decision thereafter is taken during the blending tastings. 
“When tasting the foudre of Courrieux back in 1989, François and Jean-Pierre were overwhelmed by the outstanding quality and knew that it had to be bottled on its own. Jacques Perrin’s intuition for the best blend from the estate revolved around a dominant proportion of Mourvèdre. As a tribute to their visionary father, they followed his instinct and
dedicated this unique cuvée to him.”  Production remains tiny despite the huge demand for the wine. In recent vintages, production has been around 6,000 bottles per year. The only difference in the vinification process of Hommage versus their other cuvées is an extra six months’ ageing in 4,000-litre foudres. All the winemaking is fairly hands-off, vinifying all the varieties separately apart from the Muscardin, Vaccarèse and Terret Noir which – due to the tiny quantities – are co-fermented. The reductive varieties – Syrah and Mourvèdre – are fermented in open-top wood fermenters and the remaining oxidative varieties are fermented in concrete tanks prior to the all-important blending sessions with the family.  The 2018 vintage has already been fantastically reviewed, awarded a potential perfect 100 points from the Wine Advocate, with reviewer Joe Czerwinski describing it as “full-bodied
but incredibly silky, combining great purity, richness and length into a seamless, elegant package that should give immense pleasure for decades to come.” The success of the 2018 vintage, according to Emmanuel, was “down to the perfect ripening conditions in mid-October, allowing them to bring the grapes of this late-ripening variety in at perfect maturity – 2018 was fantastic for Mourvèdre.” 
The grapes of the Southern Rhône 
Château de Beaucastel proudly uses all 13 permitted varieties of the Châteauneuf-du-Pape appellation. Some even say 18 varieties, since varieties like Grenache, Terret, Clairette and Piquepoul all have a black, pink and grey clone of the variety mixed within the vineyards. “Each variety brings its own attributes that differ depending on the vintage, but also depending on the amount you use or the blend you make,” says Emmanuel. “For example, when you open a young Beaucastel, it’s very Grenache-driven, even when there is a similar percentage of Mourvèdre. It’s only few years later that Mourvèdre will finally come to the
fore, revealing game, leather and savoury characteristics. “Individually, Mourvèdre brings power and structure, but when you open an older Beaucastel it delivers freshness and silkiness. Grenache Noir brings kirsch, plum and cassis fruitiness. Syrah adds color, tannin and spices, and when blended with Mourvèdre and Grenache it
brings truffle notes.  Counoise can be considered the Pinot Noir of Châteauneuf-du-Pape and has a distinctive white pepper note. Cinsault adds freshness, Muscardin and Vaccarèse are very floral and add freshness, Terret Noir is light even in colour and adds acidity. The white varieties of Roussanne and Grenache Blanc bring elegance and freshness. Clairette is very aromatic and brings unctuosity. Bourboulenc adds tension with notes of almond and vanilla, Piquepoul richness and Picardan adds a lot of bouquet.   “For us it is very important to have all the varieties to make an elegant and balanced wine. However, above all, it is the knowledge and the art of blending, passed on from generation to generation of the Perrin family, that is the key to understanding the real expression of Château de Beaucastel terroir.” With experimentation at the heart of the Perrin philosophy, the infinite potential of blends when using so many grapes in the wine keeps the extended Perrin family busy monitoring their blending decisions as the wines develop with age. With the 2018 Hommage, it looks like
all their experimentation is paying off. Explore all current Château de Beaucastel listings or browse more Editorial 

Châteauneuf-du-Pape’s Château de Beaucastel dates back to the 16th century, but it was only after the Perrin family took control of the estate in the early 1900s that it became one of the most iconic and well-respected wine producers in the Southern Rhône.

Exploring the largest Châteauneuf-du-Pape estate, Château de Beaucastel, and how it became one of the most iconic and well-respected Southern Rhône producers

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