This unit will focus its work on commercial matters, and distribution in the African continent will remain through its present associate distributors.

Operation’s objectives

Include:

• Building of the brand at the level of the end consumer, mainly promoting the brands Casillero del Diablo, Marques de Casa Concha and Don Melchor;
• Distribution of the Trivento brands and those of the recently-acquired Fetzer Vineyards;
• To strengthen long-term relations with the distributors.

“With VCT Africa & Middle East (PTY) Ltd., we’ll be able to deepen and work the markets in much more detail. Given the physical remoteness of the continent and the particular characteristics of each of its countries, it is necessary to be very close to their requirements and needs, and thus be able to work and see opportunities for strengthening our brands” said Thomas Domeyko, manager of north zone exports of Concha y Toro.

Context: Concha y Toro in Africa

• With the opening of this commercial office, Concha y Toro becomes the first Chilean winery to be installed in Africa, a market in which it has been working since 2001.
• The group’s sales in this continent reached US$ 11 million  in 2011 and represent 2,5% of the group’s exports, a percentage that has grown strongly in recent years.

• The company distributes the complete range of all its brands in Africa, with a focus on Casillero del Diablo and the winery’s Wines of Specific Origin.

• The company currently has a diversified presence in 28 countries, including Kenya, Angola, Mozambique, Reunion Island, Nigeria, South Africa and Cameroun.

• There has been a sustained growth in sales of 20% in volume and value also in the last decade.

The Festival is one of the largest and longest running of its kind in the world and the most important in North America and brings together some of the most influential names in the global wine industry.

2012 marks the 34th year of the Festival, which will welcome 180 wineries from 15 different countries, an expected crowd of 25,000, and 64 different events that include a gala dinner, seminars, and wine-focused brunches, lunches and dinners at local restaurants and hotels.

Spotlights over Don Melchor

Icon wine Don Melchor will represent Concha y Toro in three of the Festival’s central activities:

• A vertical tasting of Don Melchor: Entitled “Don Melchor: Behind the blend,” Don Melchor’s co-winemaker Tamara de Baeremaecker will present the 1993 and 2008 vintages as well as the seven blocks of Don Melchor 2011 -the seven different Cabernet Sauvignons (plus a Cabernet Franc) that go into making the blend.

• “Northern Gem, Southern Icon” winemakers dinner: It will be held at the Blue Water Cafe, the winemaker will present the 1995, 2007 and 2008 vintages of Don Melchor along with Terrunyo Sauvignon Blanc 2011, Marques de Casa Concha Chardonnay 2010 and Marques de Casa Concha Carmenere 2009.
  All of the wines will be perfectly paired with the renowned cuisine of the restaurant’s chef, Frank Pabst.

• Tasting of some greatest Cabernets entitled “Kings of Cabernet Sauvignon:” Tamara de Baeremaecker will present Don Melchor 2008 at the “Kings of Cabernet Sauvignon” tasting, where it will compete against wines from eight different countries, including Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, France, Italy, Spain and the United States.
  The tasting will be judged by a panel of distinguished experts and moderated by Canadian Master of Wine Barbara Philip, the first woman in the country to have obtained the sought-after title.

What makes Don Melchor an iconic wine?

About a month later, judges’ first publications are now coming out in the press, highlighting the great diversity of Chile’s terroirs and the search for origin as the main personality traits of the country’s wine industry today.

In their reports, the experts speak of a new Chile, one that has grasped the wide range of climates and soils from North to South, and especially from East to West in the meager 150 km that lie between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes Mountains, and captured it in the country’s winegrowing map by introducing three new zones: Costa, Andes and Entre Cordilleras.

The judges also focused on the development of emerging varieties such as Syrah and Riesling, two of the big winners at AWoCA that impressed the judges with their diversity and quality.

Special recognition was given to Riesling, which despite being an emerging variety was able to outrank more established varieties in the “Best Other Whites” category. That honor was awarded to Concha y Toro’s Terrunyo Riesling 2011, which earned this major award for its first vintage, released just a few weeks ago.

The judges’ opinions

Anthony Gismondi, one of Canada’s most influential wine critics, and editor in chief of Wine Access

[…] The new Chile is awash in appellations or designated zones of production that signal a willingness on everyone’s part to produce precision wines.

Chile’s unique shape (long and thin), and its location crammed between the snow-covered Andes and the cold Pacific Ocean, has inspired its producers to further delineate their wines as coming from the coast (Costa), between the mountains (Entre Cordilleras) or from the foothills to the east (Andes). Demarcating wine zones with an eye to temperature and elevation makes a lot of sense, especially when it’s laid over more traditional appellations.

As difficult as it might be for some to accept, it is more logical than granting certain areas “grand cru” or “premier cru” status for life, no matter who is making the wine or how they care for the property. Clearly, Chilean wine’s future is as bright as it is valuable.

The 2012 Hot List: Chile, Wine Access,  February 13, 2012

Bill St John, US wine writer and wine critic for the Chicago Tribune

Dear Chile:

I am happy I came to see you again. You are one of my favorite countries to visit. Whenever I come to you — this was the third time — I always feel as if I am sneaking into a special place, hidden behind a secret panel.

[…] The old story — that Chile produces delicious red and white wines, especially red, at a very reasonable price — has become a boring story. You need to tell us about your more exciting wines, your up-and-comers, the distinctive sauvignon blancs from your north; unoaked chardonnay from your coast; electric, characterful syrah and carmenere from your hills.

[…] Something is bound to come along, something interesting and distinctive; that is what bursts bubbles or prevents people from yawning in the middle of a story. Can it be something from Chile?

Yes, if you tell the story about who you are and act on it. Your greatest strength is your diversity of terroir. Chile is replete with places that do or can make distinctive wines, red or white, such as Limari or Maule or Bio Bio — there are dozens.

People want to drink wine that speaks to them about where it was born. People do not want to listen to boring stories. Terroir is the way a vine tells us its story. The winemaker, the style-maker, the marketer, they cannot speak the place. Only the place has its voice and can tell its story.

Letter to Chile, Chicago Tribune, February 1,  2012

Peter Richards, Master of Wine and UK wine writer

[…] Syrah and Riesling were unquestionably the headlining acts – the latter a very pleasant surprise, given it is only an emerging variety in Chile. In fact, we judges were so impressed by the diversity and quality on show within these categories that we felt we couldn’t just award one ‘Best in Category’ prize.

In the Riesling category we awarded two top gongs to contrasting styles … Concha y Toro’s Terrunyo Riesling 2011 from Casablanca […]

Syrah shines in Chile, SusieandPeter.com, January 16, 2012

Marcelo Copello, one of the most influential wine journalists in Brazil and the director of BACO Multimedia

[…] The judges of this AWoCA favored wines with a refreshing mineral style. It is no coincidence that the big winners at this competition were the cold climate regions that deliver more refreshing wines, such as Limarí, Elqui, San Antonio, Casablanca and Bio Bio.

[…] The biggest surprises at this competition were Syrah and Riesling, varieties that were represented by excellent wines from very distinct regions and with very distinct styles.

AWoCA: O Maior Concurso de Vinhos do Chile, Veja Rio, January 23, 2012

• More about the recognitions earned by Don Melchor from Concha y Toro

Today new gastronomic alternatives are added to the already traditional German cuisine of Puerto Varas. Such is the case of the Catalan boutique restaurant ‘Xic-Dalí’ which is now into its second year. It’s a family business of the Chilean-Catalan sisters Mercedes, Francisca and Mariona Xicota.

Although easily missed as it is a simple house outside the town’s tourist zone, entering it is to enjoy the good cooking, aromas and preparations similar to Catalan cuisine. “The decoration has a Provencal style and everything has been brought from abroad,” explains Mercedes.

Restaurant’s name is a play on the words ‘Xic’, meaning small in Catalan and which refers to the fact that it’s a place with limited capacity (approx. 22 people) in order to provide quality attention. At the same time, ‘Xic’ are the first 3 letters of the surname of these sisters (Xicota), and “Dalí” is in honor of one of the great Catalan artists, Salvador Dalí.

Mercedes came to Puerto Varas eight years ago and opened the restaurant two years ago: “The idea is to take advantage of a zone with very good raw materials. Our merit is that we dedicate ourselves fully to each dish and do not employ pre-cooked food; everything is prepared to the minute and is very fresh. We offer a traditional menu but we are always innovating”. The menu therefore varies from month to month.

The art of cooking

Francisca Xicota is the chef or, better said, the artist, because she is dedicated to preparing each dish delicately and in detail.

Mariona, the eldest sister, arrived in Chile from Barcelona just four months ago, and apart from attending and preparing the tables for the guests, is responsible for looking after the vegetable garden in order to have the ingredients we need more at hand.

Mercedes is concerned with the minutest details and the whole administration. During the day, the three look for the freshest and most natural products in order to provide “the best of the best” at meal times.

Merecedes says that their most characteristic dishes are:

• “In Winter, onion soup, southern hake with Spanish export goulash ‘al pil-pil’ as the main dish and ‘crema catalana’ for desert.
• In Spring, scallops au gratin attract a lot of attention and the salads which are a combination of organic vegetables with citrus and dried fruit and cheeses, plus different balsamic vinegars.
• As the main dish in Summer, we offer kingfish with water melon, which we have not seen anywhere else, and a cream of white chocolate for desert.” People also often ask for paella and ‘fideuá’.

Xic-Dalí’s proposals

Pork fillet in Malbec wine with cherries, accompanied by Gran Reserva Serie Riberas Malbec

Xic-Dalí also has a room for selling and tasting wines, so this is a very good place for wine-lovers. Naturally, some of the Concha y Toro wines are available and a menu was presented to us with them.

“With the menu we have this month, we might suggest as a starter a salad of spinach and orange with braised scallops, accompanied by a Terrunyo Sauvignon Blanc wine.

As the main course, pork fillet in Malbec wine with cherries, and a good pairing for this is Gran Reserva Serie Riberas Malbec.

For desert, a mango cream, which is a white chocolate cream with natural yoghurt and small cubes of fresh mango. This goes very well with a Chardonnay,” says Mercedes.

Xic-Dalí coordinates

• Address: Purísima 690, Puerto Varas.
• Booking: telephone (65) 234424, mobile 8-5009734.
• Hours: open Monday to Saturday, from 8.30 p.m. to midnight.
• Average cost per person: between CLP$15.000 and CLP$20.000, depending on the wine chosen (considering starter, main dish and desert). Groups and companies are attended.

For those seeking exclusivity

For those looking for vacations to disconnect themselves from everything and be close to nature and peace and quiet, perhaps the best option is to combine accommodation with top-class cuisine.

This can be found at Quincho Country Home, a Chilean-German hotel on the road to Ensenada, at Km 7.5. Without any publicity, this mansion is in a privileged location, surrounded by green areas and with spectacular views of Lake Llanquihue.

It has to be said that the prices are higher than the average for hotels in the zone because it is a different concept. This country house has only four exclusive rooms. A night in a suite for two people, with breakfast included, costs US$ 790. And if you want to include meals, these would cost around US$ 60 per person.

But if the stay is longer, it is worth taking all-inclusive terms; these include full board, transportation and activities like excursions to Chiloé, visits to the penguin colonies of Ancud, beaches and fishing villages (Calbuco, Maullín), Lake Todos los Santos, etc., always accompanied by a guide from the hotel.

Activities like horse-riding, trekking, rafting and kayak can also be arranged with Quincho’s tourist guides. While there is no access to the beach, the Niklitschek beach is just a few meters from the hotel.

At Quincho Country Home, it is the guests themselves who decide what to do and everything is adapted to their times and needs. The same happens with meals; if there are foods that cannot be eaten or if an early breakfast is required, all this is catered for.

View to the Llanquihue Lake from Quincho Country Home, Puerto Varas, South of Chile

Silja Torborg, the manager of Quincho Country Home, says we want guests to feel at home, so the hotel functions as such. “When they arrive they sense the aromas of cooking and can freely walk about the kitchen and see how everything is prepared. In the morning when they wake up, they are aware of the smell of bread and coffee.”

The good touch of the chef

The meals of this country house are the responsibility of its executive chef, Jordán Barrera, who prepares gourmet meals with fresh foods from the area: fish, shellfish, meats and vegetables from the hotel’s own garden.

New menus are prepared every day with the freshest local market produce and there are always two alternatives for the guests. “Chilean cooking is offered, but at the same time trying to preserve German dishes: pork, orange sauces, chucrut, apples, etc.,” says Mr. Jordán.

Starter

Regarding wines, only Chilean wines are offeredand the all-inclusive terms offer the Viña Concha y Toro TRIO line. There is also the opportunity to try high-quality wines like Marques de Casa Concha and Don Melchor.

Jordan Barrera proposes the following menu for the summer:

• Starter: Pot of razor clams in olive oil with stew of “reineta” with smoked cheese, accompanied by Amelia Chardonnay.

Main course

• Main course: Roast beef strips cooked in vanilla sauce served on mashed potatoes and black pudding with caramelized onion in Cabernet Sauvignon and pistachio, with pork in orange sauce on chucrut with apples and caramelized nuts. All this accompanied by a TRIO Cabernet Sauvignon or Don Melchor.

• Finish: a desert of raspberry fantasy, which is jelly with fresh raspberries, vodka, home-made peach jam and dry banana. “For this we suggest the Late Harvest of Concha y Toro or a TRIO Carmenere,” advises Mr Jordán.

Desert

For this chef, “food doesn’t have to be the same, for example if I prepare mashed potato it shouldn’t have just the flavor of potato. There should be more than that flavor and that of a mixture of different spices, so that pairing it with wine is a real explosion of flavors in the mouth.”

Another activity offered by Quincho Country Home, depending on availability, for not only its guests but for tourists who wish learn new dishes, are the cooking classes together with Jordan Barrera, which should be arranged beforehand. “Curantos” are also offered for groups of people who want to know and taste this dish from Chiloé in the open air.

Quincho Conutry Home coordinates

• Address: Route 225 (road to Ensenada), Km 7,5 Puerto Varas.
• Booking: e-mail info@quinchocountryhome.cl or telephone (65) 330737.
• Prices: they can be requested directly by these means of contact.
• Website: www.quinchocountryhome.cl

Other places worth visiting

1. Organic garden of Juanita Münzenmeyer de Minte: she has fresh vegetables like lettuces, spinach, beetroot, coriander, parsley and watercress.

She also sells farm eggs at CLP$1,800 a dozen and a kilo of fresh raspberries at CLP$1,500.

• Address: FundoLa Laja, road to Alerce km 5, Puerto Varas.
• Telephone: (65) 330483.

2. La Gringa: the owner, Naomí Allan, offers American pastries inspired by Patagonian flavors.

It’s a café-pastries shop, or “Bakery Café”, where all the products may be served there or taken away. One of the coffees most asked for is the Musetti, but there also teas, juices, and gourmet and organic products and gifts.

It offers an executive menu from Monday to Friday. Cakes can be ordered for 15 people at a cost of $13,000. They also sell muffins, cupcakes, cheesecake, large biscuits and grain bread. A gourmet shop with wines is planned to open in late January.

• Address: Imperial 605, Puerto Varas.
• Telephone: mobile 78010314.
• Website: www.lagringapostres.wordpress.com

3. La Picá de la Abeja: this establishment sells native “ulmo” honey in 600 gram pots costing $ 3,000.

It also offers a complete range of honey bio-cosmetics and products for improving and protecting the skin.

This store promotes apitherapy as an alternative treatment for improving body affections through consuming products that restore the balance.

One of the star products is Apitop, which contains real jelly, pollen, propolis and honey; it costs $ 9,000.

• Address: there are 2 stores, in the center, San Pedro 521, and on the road to Ensenada Km 28.
• Telephone: (65) 330137.
• Web page: www.lapicadelaabeja.cl

The wine

Gran Reserva Serie Riberas Sauvignon Blanc 2010 – see technical sheet [pdf - 1,19Mb]

The recipe

Tartar of salmon with a touch of curry and Pica lemon (for 4 people).
Ideally the tartar is prepared some 4 hours before serving.

Ingredients for the curry and lemon sauce:

• 2 spoonfuls of grape-seed or corn oil.
• 1 spoonful of very finely-chopped shallots.
• 1 spoonful of peeled and finely chopped green apple.
• 1 1/2 spoonfuls of curry.
• ¼ cup of mayonnaise.
• 2 spoonfuls of thick cream.
• 2 spoonfuls of Dijon mustard.
• 2 spoonfuls of Pica lemon juice.

For the salmon:

• 200 gr of salmon fillet, sushi quality, skinless and boneless.
• 2 spoonfuls of finely-chopped ciboulette.
• Salt and Cayenne pepper to taste.
• 1 or 2 endives, separated into leaves to serve.

Method:

1. Freeze the salmon for 2 to 3 hours, a process that facilitates cutting.
2. Prepare the curry and lemon sauce: Heat the oil in a small saucepan over a medium flame and sauté the shallots and apple for 1 minute, add the curry, 2 spoonfuls of cold water and sauté some 2 minutes on a low flame. Transfer this mixture to a bowl, leave to cool a little before adding the mayonnaise, cream, mustard and Pica lemon juice. Keep.
3. Four hours before serving: Cut the salmon with a very sharp knife into small cubes of 1/2 cm. Place in a glass bowl and add ¾ of the curry and lemon sauce kept, the ciboulette and salt and Cayenne pepper to taste. Mix well and refrigerate.
4. Serve the tartar on endive leaves.

Voilà!

To make this a special summer, the chef of Viña Concha y Toro, Ruth Van Waerebeek, has conceived exquisite recipes ideal for the season. Ruth invited us to walk around Santiago’s central market where we could find the freshest and most varied products for our dishes.

Encourage yourself to experiment with these entertaining recipes and discover their perfect harmony with Concha y Toro’s most select wines.

For TRIO Sauvignon Blanc

Fisherman’s cebiche with pink grapefruit

(For 6 people)

Ingredients:

500 g of white fish, very fresh, filleted and boneless

1 / 3 cup of freshly-squeezed lemon juice

1 / 4 cup of freshly-squeezed pink grapefruit juice

Marine salt to taste

1 small royal-purple onion, finely cut

1 / 2 red pepper, cut lengthwise

1 pink peeled and sectioned grapefruit

3 spoonfuls of finely-chopped coriander

1 green chili, seedless and finely chopped

¼ bell pepper, seedless and in thin strips

1 spoonful of finely-cut ciboulette

Method:

1. With a sharp knife, cut the fillets of fish into cubes of 1×1 cm. Place in a bowl and cover with the lemon and grapefruit juices. Add a pinch of marine salt. Leave to macerate in a cool place for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

1. Add the other ingredients before serving, mix carefully, adjust the seasoning and serve immediately.

As well as knowing the valleys of Maipo, Maule andCasablanca, they were able to taste the winery’s most award-winning wines.

Lisa Perrotti-Brown, the only Master of Wine of Singapore and one of the world’s principal experts in fine wines and markets of Asian wines, was the first to visit the Pirque estate in the Maipo valley. Marcelo Copello also visited the place on Thursday, January 12.

He is one of the principal leaders of opinion in the Brazilian wine industry, being elected in 2009 as “best journalist” and “most influential wine journalist” by the German magazine Meininger’s Wine Business International.

The following day was the turn of the famous wine journalist, television personality and Master of Wine of Hong Kong, Debra Meiburg.

All were received by the winemaker Ignacio Recabarren, who directed exclusive tastings of wines produced under a coastal influence, such as Marques de Casa Concha Sauvignon Blanc 2011 and Pinot Noir 2010, and Terrunyo 2,000 Bottles Sauvignon Blanc 2011 and Riesling 2011: four varieties recently added to each of those lines.

The Terrunyo Riesling 2011, a wine that caught the attention of the judges and was widely praised with comments like “it has a very attractive and particular style, different from other Chilean Rieslings”, was also a prize-winner in the “Best White Wine” category at this 9th edition of AWOCA.

These experts were also able to know different vintages of the iconic wines Carmín de Peumo, Don Melchor and Gravas del Maipo, which were presented by the winemaker Tamara de Baeremaecker.

The Gismondi’s trip to Villa Alegre

Anthony Gismondi, one of the most influential American wine critics, also asked to visit the Villa Alegre vineyard in the Maule valley.

There, the winemakers Héctor Urzúa and Max Weinlaub presented tastings of wines exclusively from that part of Chile. One was Gran Reserva Serie Riberas, in its Merlot and Syrah varieties, fromSan Clementeand Villa Alegre respectively.

The Concha y Toro subsidiary, Viña Maipo, was also present, its Gran Devoción and Maipo Limited Edition lines faithfully representing this wine zone.

The Norway master of wine

Norway's Master of Wine, Mai Tjemsland, visiting Emiliana Winery, a Chilean green wine company

Mai Tjemsland, Master of Wine of Norway, visited the Emiliana winery in the valley of Casablanca.

She was received by the winemaker Sebastián Rodríguez and was able to taste the already-mentioned coastal varieties.

On their visit, these experts were able to understand in detail the concept behind each of these wines, all representative of their place of origin and recognized internationally.

Terrunyo Riesling 2011, the latest variety in the Terrunyo line, was released to market just a few weeks ago and comes from the Los Boldos Vineyard in the coldest part of the Casablanca Valley, just 15 km (9 mi) from the Pacific Ocean.

Block 6, where the grapes for this Riesling grow, is one of the coolest sectors at Los Boldos. The vines are planted in the upper section of the vineyard, and the greater coastal exposure along with breezes and shade that moderate the temperatures allow the grapes to ripen more slowly.

This award reflects the importance of this project for the company and the challenge of positioning Chile as a producer of high quality vines, as well as a constant and passionate search for terroirs that faithfully express the character of each variety.

The jury

The jury of international experts who tasted more than 600 wines during the competition was composed of:

• Bill St. John, USA;
• Debra Meiburg, Hong Kong;
• Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Singapore;
• Mai Tjemsland, Norway;
• Peter Richards, UK;
• Marcelo Copello, Brazil;
• Anthony Gismondi, Canada;
• Bengt G. Kronstam, Sweden;
• Patricio Tapia, Chile.

Marques de Casa Concha Cabernet Sauvignon, coming from the Puente Alto vineyard in the Maipo valley, had previously scored 91 points and been chosen among the Editors’ Choice of that publication in its June 2011 edition.

91Concha y Toro 2009 Marques de Casa Concha Cabernet Sauvignon

A beauty, with graphite, minerality and exciting berry fruit and controlled oak aromas. Pure and stylish Cabernet Sauvignon with fat but balanced cassis and sweet berry flavors. Big tannins lend structure and framework; it will become better and should evolve nicely over the next few years. Editors’ Choice.