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| Eduardo Chadwick, chairman of the Chilean winery Vina Sena, presents a bottle of Sena wine after an interview with The Korea Times at the Conrad Seoul Hotel in Yeouido on March 6. / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk |
By Kwon Ji-youn
Eduardo Chadwick, chairman of the Chilean winery Vina Sena, says he believes he has succeeded in putting Chilean wine on the world map -- now the time has come to satisfy the palates of true wine connoisseurs around the world.
During an interview with The Korea Times at the Conrad Hotel in Yeouido, Seoul, Chadwick said that his very own Sena wine has heretofore joined the ranks of French and Californian wines.
"When you reach out to wine consumers or critics, they normally have a good understanding of well-established regions like Bordeaux, France," Chadwick said. "The French and Italians monopolized the world class wine market until esteemed winemaker Tim Mondavi discovered the potential of new world wines, like those from Napa Valley."
According to Chadwick, it was the same Mondavi who unearthed the potential of Chilean wines. Mondavi suggested to Chadwick a joint venture that would help demonstrate the class of Chilean wine.
"So we bonded to create Sena, which means signal," Chadwick said. "Sena has given Chilean wine a new dimension of recognition."
Chadwick visited Seoul as part of his winery's Asia tour to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Sena. With highly regarded Korean wine critics and enthusiasts, Chadwick, at a gala dinner, looked back at the various milestones that ultimately threw the spotlight on Chilean wine.
"Sena served as a catalyzer of recognition for Chilean wine, much like Opus One was a catalyzer for Californian wine," he said. "Chile has a long tradition in wine making -- some 140 years -- but international exposure has been very recent. It began in the 1990s when we began exporting our wine."
Chadwick said that it was in 2004, at the very first Berlin Tasting, that critics like Robert Parker and James Suckling began to appreciate Chilean wine.
The Berlin Tasting is a blind tasting initiative that toured 17 countries to establish Chile's place among the world's greatest wine appellations. Chilean wine placed in the top three ranks in 19 of the 21 tastings, achieving a 90 percent preference rate by palates from around the world.
"Today, most critics are convinced," he said. "It was uncontestable. (The evaluation) was done in a modest way, and there's nothing left to prove."
So now Chadwick's big challenge is to satisfy wine lovers, whose knowledge of Chilean wine is minimal.
"There is a lot of work to be done to get our wines out there," he said. "I can't say that our wines have an image on a par with the wines of Bordeaux. But from a wine-making standpoint, another challenge is to produce a top quality pinot noir, or sauvignon, that can rival the best wines from Burgundy."
His most recent 2012 Sena vintage was a moderately warm vintage born in ideal conditions from spring onwards. It has been recognized as one of the best Sena vintages ever and added that there is a great appreciation of the Chilean wine in Korea.
"The Korean palate is very fond of Chilean wine, and compared to the best wines of the world, they are affordable," he said. "We are offering products that offer more pleasure at an affordable cost."
To Chadwick, Seoul had presented both a challenge and an opportunity. In 2011, he hosted a Sena Vertical Tasting in the Korean capital, with just a range of vintages from the same grapes and vineyard. Sena 2008 placed first and Sena 2005 came in second.
The results had seemed surprising at first, but they were most definitely accurate, as Chilean wine is produced in some of the most sustainable vineyards in the world.
"Chile enjoys a tremendous market share here compared to other countries," Chadwick said. "We will keep that up."
