The launch was a blind tasting held at L’Ecrivain, one of the best restaurants in Dublin, where Dunnes Stores presented a selection of its best wines from Chile and Argentina taking part in this promotional activity, to the Irish wine press attending.  35°South Reserva was presented by Winemaker Miguel Rencoret.

Dunnes Stores is one of the leading retailers  in Ireland and the South American Wine Festival ran nationwide from September 9 th thru the 26th.

35°South Reserva Bi-Valley is a novel concept made of grapes of two origins. This is the first listing of the new range in a supermarket chain in Ireland. Introduced were Merlot, with fruit stemming from Maule and Maipo valleys, and also Sauvignon Blanc, with grapes from Curicó and Elqui.

The Festival received immediate coverage in the main Irish media and our 35°South Reserva was highlighted by renowned expert Jean Smullen in Prudence magazine and its related blog, where she praised the “lovely grassy quality” of 35°South Reserva Sauvignon Blanc 2008, which in her words “is screaming out of the glass! Lively acidity with lemony fruit and zippy flavors, this wine really hits the spot”.

We are particularly proud to announce that Castillo de Molina Sauvignon Blanc from the Elqui Valley received the Decanter World Wine Awards 2009 Trophy for Best Chilean Sauvignon Blanc under 10 pounds. This is the second consecutive year that it has earned this prestigious trophy, and one of only six wines to have received consecutive trophies since the British competition began in 2004!

Prior to this achievement, the March edition of Wine Spectator, one of the most important wine magazines in the US, published a list of outstanding Chilean wines under the title “Bold Reds, Crisp Whites”, which gave 87 points to the 2006 Castillo de Molina Cabernet Sauvignon from Cachapoal. We were featured again, when the magazine’s May 31st edition included winewriter James Molesworth´s special on Chile, entitled “Chile’s one-two punch,” in which he commented that “as red wines continue to surge, whites show marked improvement.”

With respect to San Pedro wines, this renowned critic named the 2008 Castillo de Molina Sauvignon Blanc from Elqui among the most interesting examples of Chilean whites and included the 2006 Castillo de Molina Cabernet Sauvignon from Cachapoal among the 18 Top Value wines in the edition (with 87 points), wines highlighted by their excellent quality-price ratio.

Furthermore, in an attached piece entitled the “ABC’s of Chilean Wine” Molesworth presents Chile’s most important wine regions, and in discussing the Elqui Valley he says that “Viña San Pedro has taken the lead in developing vineyards here, notably for Sauvignon Blanc.”

On the European front, both the major French Challenge International du Vin 2009, and the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles 2009, one of the most important wine competitions in the world, have just released their results and coincided completely in their findings. Each competition awarded Gold Medals to both Castillo de Molina Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 and Castillo de Molina Shiraz 2007.

All of these distinctions recognize, reinforce, and communicate Castillo de Molina’s excellent quality in all its varieties.

In the context of the third Chilean wine tasting carried out by Jay Miller for the prestigious American magazine The Wine Advocate, Viña San Pedro was very pleased to have the chance to host a tasting for him in its vineyard at the Elqui Valley, and show him “in situ” our latest news and the wines born in this terroir.

This time, Jay Miller, the expert in who Robert Parker –one of the most important critics in the world–, delegated the tastings and ratings for his publication of the wines steming from Latin America among other regions, decided to make his tastings on the field. This is why he undertook a visit to Chile from March 4th to the 12 th.

In order to surprise Miller, San Pedro offered him a tasting of nine wines, conducted by Marco Puyo, Winemaker of Premium and Reserve Wines, in a very nice place, specially prepared for this occasion, right in the middle of the vineyards which give birth, among others, to our awarded Castillo de Molina Sauvignon Blanc Elqui.

A notable representative of this white variety, that has attained the most important prizes at international wine competitions since it was launched the year 2006, such as the Regional Trophy for the best Sauvignon Blanc under £10 awarded by the contest of the renowned English magazine Decanter.

Besides this wine, Miller had the chance to taste our wines 1865 Single Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc steming from Leyda Valley, the new launching of this line, 1865 Limited Edition 2006, also Cabo de Hornos 2006 –released just a week ago to the market–, its next harvest 2007, and the innovative developments the winery is carrying out in this interesting valley, about which you will be hearing news pretty soon …

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We are pleased to announce two new very important acknowledgements to add to the list of those already attained in this young year: In its monthly section on the best wines worldwide, Steven Spurrier, Editor of the British magazine Decanter –the most prestigious in the United Kingdom–, and who also chairs the Japan Wine Challenge competition and, of course, the Decanter World Wine Awards, announced: “This month: a brace each from France, Chile and Spain, featuring a sublime Oloroso, a Cotes du Rhone that punches above its weight and a crisp Sauvignon.” Referring with this latter words to our 1865 Single Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc 2008, which Spurrier qualified as the “Best New World White”, and described as “From cool-climate vineyards just 4km from the Pacific Ocean, this is the second vintage by head winemaker Marco Puyo: white flowers lead to precise yet fleshy fruit with a mineral finish. Complex and long”.

At the same time, Kim Marcus, Managing Editor from the American Wine Spectator magazine, and responsible for tasting Austria, Greece, southern France and the table wines of Portugal, praised our Castillo de Molina Sauvignon Blanc Elqui 2007. In a column where the magazine’s editors talk about what they are tasting on their free time, Marcus categorized this wine as a complete revelation. “I approached this Sauvignon Blanc with some trepidation, because Chilean whites have not impressed me in the past. But this wine from Viña San Pedro was a revelation. It was very minerally and zesty, with a rich viscosity”, he stated.

Marcus even commented on the delight of one of his friends, who normally preferred reds to whites, but was a quick converted to the wine. “It is the first white I’ve ever liked so much. It is light, dry and very smooth—without a lot of fruitiness “, she said.

Besides agreeing with his friend, the winewriter scored this wine with 89 points and celebrated its price, commenting it “costs just” US$13 a bottle.

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