June, 2011.-

In brief: Our 1865 Limited Edition Blend 2007 has just attained 94 points on Wine&Spirits magazine’s June edition, which published its rankings of the 100 Top Values of the Year and the Year’s Best, featuring as the best score among the new Chilean releases. This, right after –as we informed before-, vintage 2008 of this wine was awarded the Regional Trophy Chilean Red Blend over GBP10 at the Decanter World Wine Awards’11.

In turn, 1865 Single Vineyard Syrah 2007 was reviewed with 93 points on Wine&Spirits February’s edition, also appearing the same month with four stars and marked as a Best Value in the English magazine Decanter, in an article about the Top 50 Syrahs below GBP25, that included Chile within the 5 main Syrah producing regions in the world.

Furthermore, harvest 2008 of this wine was qualified in April with 91 points by American publication Wine Enthusiast, which bestowed the same score and additionally highlighted our wine 1865 Single Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc 2010 as Editor’s Choice.

Another outstanding case is our Kankana del Elqui, Solar N°10, which first vintage, year 2007, obtained 90 points in Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate; was highlighted with 91 points and as one of the Top Chilean Wines in WineSpectator’s March issue and has just added some 92 points more stemming from Wine&Spirits’ June’s edition.

December, 2010.-

Thus, after being recently officially launched in Chile and abroad, Kankana del Elqui already counts with a very favorable welcome from experts and specialized media, as well as lofty scores in two of the most influent wine publications on an international level.

In Chile, on the other hand, where all wine guides that aim to orient consumers along the whole year 2011, have been just launched, Kankana del Elqui, attained 93 points and entered the rankings of the best from the north and the best Syrah in the Descorchados Guide from wine-critic Patricio Tapia, who also highlights this wine at Epicuro magazine’s last edition, calling it “the best wine Marco Puyo has made in his career”, describing it as “a singular wine (…) a great wine which for its spices, freshness and its ashes notes, it definitively does not resembles to any of its many peers in Chile”.

Also in the Mujer y Vino (Women&Wine) guide, from journalist Ana María Barahona, Kankana del Elqui was highlighted among the winners of the Premium Red category, with 92 points. The expert reviews it as “one of the best debuts of this year. A full personality Syrah, which confirms the Elqui as the place for special wines”.

Equal score (92) reached our wine in La Cav’s Wine Guide, where sommelier Pascual Ibáñez and the tasting panel members of this Wine-lovers Club magazine, placed it among the best Chilean Icons.

In brief, this is a wine that reinforces San Pedro’s position in the exclusive Elqui Valley and is the fruit of our Origin Project, which searches for new and better origins in order to create superior quality wines.

August 20th, 2010.-

This great acknowledgement highlights the important role San Pedro is playing in the world wine-industry and some big achievements reached this year, such as relevant scores and awards for our wines in different segments, GatoNegro’s 50^th Anniversary and launching our 360° Sustainable focus, among others. Besides, within the 55 nominees to the 11 categories, we are the only Chilean representatives in the list. A great honor!

We are also very proud, because last year we were already nominated as a group for the same prize. And the year before, Shaw-Ross International, San Pedro’s ally in the US, resulted highlighted as the 2008 best importer.

This time, on the 11th edition of the Wine Enthusiast’s Wine Star Awards, the other competitors in the category for New World Winery of the Year are the Argentinean Achaval-Ferrer and Bodega Catena Zapata, the New Zealander Craggy Range and the South African DGB. Outstanding competitors, all of them.

These awards recognize excellence on all levels of the industry, from producing Premium wines and spirits, to its commercialization. Brief descriptions of the nominees will be featured in the November issue, while the winners will be presented in-depth in the December issue (both circulate a month before), and honored at the annual Wine Star Awards gala dinner on January 24, 2011, at the New York Public Library. After over 20 years of trajectory, Wine Enthusiast Magazine has become one of the most respected and quoted publications in the field of wine and spirits, reaching 685,000 readers per issue.

To be within the five nominees for the best New World Winery of this year is already a very good achievement. We will work even harder in continue spreading the news about our wine’s quality, our winemaking vocation and the passion for all what we do …..Let’s go for the big prize!

On the Buying Guide of its May issue, the publication chose to highlight only five Chilean Syrah and Michael Schachner, contributing editor responsible for tasting the Chilean wines, scored it with 90 points what is equivalent to qualify it as an excellent and highly recommendable wine.

Schachner highlighted its origin at the Elqui Valley, adding “we like its leathery, complex and smoky nose that foretells layered blackberry, chocolate and spice flavors. Fairly thick and modern, but balanced, with a long, lightly minty finish. Interesting and well seasoned with oak.”

This wine is the second one launched within the Limited Edition line of our brand 1865, which aims at giving an even higher relevance to the origin. It is elaborated from a selection of Syrah grapes, planted twelve years ago at the Elqui Valley’s coastal zone, on alluvial soils, near the Elqui River and at 100 meters above the sea level. This area’s lower temperatures than other more traditional Chilean wine-growing regions for this variety, allow obtaining wines with greater fruit expression and softer tannins. This wine is vinified in 15,000 liters vats, specially designed for it and wears its creator’s signature, winemaker Marco Puyo, on its label.

Just as Mr. Schachner said, highly recommendable!