Chilean Pinot Noir: Panel tasting results

Martin Lam, Peter Richards MW and Patricio Tapia tasted 61 Chilean Pinot Noirs with two Outstanding and 22 Highly Recommended…

Entry criteria: Producers and UK agents were invited to submit their latest-release Pinot Noir reds from any region in Chile

Scroll down to see the tasting notes & scores

The verdict

The ultimate crime with Pinot Noir is to be dull. While Chile may have been guilty of this transgression in the past, this tasting put those ghosts to rest. There was plenty of diversity, character and excitement in evidence, while the pitfalls of excessive ripeness, extraction, oak and alcohol were notable in their scarcity. ‘This tasting was evidence of a big step forwards,’ lauded Patricio Tapia, ‘with not only quality but also real character on show.’

This character may actually have worked against some wines. If you look closely at the scores, you’ll find many wines about which one taster was enthusiastic but others weren’t on board in the same way. Although in these cases discussion ensues, consensus isn’t always reached and thus the wines end up populating a middle ground of averaged marks. So it’s worth giving both the notes and individual scores some scrutiny to sniff out the particular wines and styles that might appeal to you.

‘The cooler south seems to hold great potential’

Overall, though, these were still stellar results. Two Outstanding and 22 Highly Recommended from 61 wines in total, with 31 others Recommended. That’s a strike rate of nearly 40% at 90 points or more, with 90% of wines given the thumbs-up. The last two Chilean Pinot Noir panel tastings (in 2016 and 2013) show a linear progression in terms of marks and this is reflected in the progress of the wines.

As for ultimate quality, on the basis of this tasting, Chile’s not quite there yet. Many wines had numerous outstanding features but no one wine managed to knit them into a compelling single proposition – hence no Exceptional results.

One aspect that needed improving was perfume. ‘Chileans forget about aroma – they’re obsessed by palate structure and soil,’ argues Tapia, adding on a positive note that, ‘there’s a chalky tension to the wines you wouldn’t have found five years ago.’

For Martin Lam, it’s a question of time. ‘New Zealand made a quantum leap forward in quality terms when the vines reached 15 years old and they’d got to grips with the winemaking. Chile’s not there yet – it’s heading in the right direction but there are parallels with California’s evolution.’

Quick link See all 61 wines in the panel tasting

It’s worth noting the price factor. The vast majority of these wines were under £30, with many inhabiting a £15-£25 hotspot. Given the positive marks, this represents excellent value in the context of global Pinot Noir prices. Some Chilean producers are being notably ambitious in their pricing, especially as quality rises, so it’s fair to say that the best Chilean Pinots offer good value for now but won’t stay that way forever.

There was a good geographical spread among the top marks, showing how Pinot can perform across a wide variety of terroirs in Chile. Coastal territories clearly dominate, however (be it in Limarí, Aconcagua Costa, Casablanca, San Antonio or Zapallar). And the cooler south, albeit represented by few wines here, seems to hold great potential for the future.

The spread also applied to vintages, with a good range on show among the highest scorers. Tapia singled out those who made impressive wines in the challenging 2017 vintage, in which extreme heat and wildfires beset growers. ‘Given what 2017 was like, they did a good job.’

Ultimately, as ever with Pinot, it comes down to growers. Were all the best names and wines on show? ‘Not all of them,’ noted Lam. But there was sufficient quality and pulse-quickening excitement to provide more than enough recommendations to buy, and hope for the future.

The scores

61 wines tasted

Exceptional 0

Outstanding 2

Highly Recommended 22

Recommended 31

Commended 2

Fair 4

Poor 0

Faulty 0

See all 61 wines from this panel tasting

About Chilean Pinot Noir

A shift from increasing volumes to enhancing quality is beginning to bear fruit, and signs are that it will only get better as Chile’s Pinot Noir vines mature in the ground, says Peter Richards MW

If there’s one thing that gets wine lovers hot under the collar, it’s great Pinot Noir. As for the Holy Grail – well, that’s great Pinot Noir at a bargain price. Chile has long been the source of everyday Pinot – one of the few countries to consistently supply this niche. Yet greatness in value is worlds away from greatness in absolute quality, especially when it comes to the brutal meritocracy of Pinot. And the intersection between greatness of value and quality in Pinot is something Chile is still working on.

Nevertheless, there are encouraging signs that Chile may be on the cusp of a great leap forward with Pinot. There’s been a significant mindset shift among Chilean winemakers over recent years, as they’ve started to re-evaluate Pinot from the ground up. Many have begun travelling regularly – for example, to New Zealand and Burgundy – the result being a drive towards earlier harvests and more elegant styles, bringing terroir, nuance and ageability into play. At the same time, there has been a welcome shift away from overdoing things like ripeness, extraction and oak.

It’s slow progress, though. ‘We need time to understand Pinot Noir as an elegant style. We’re not quite there yet,’ muses Errazuriz head winemaker and Pinot pioneer Francisco Baettig.

Great Pinot takes patience, as consultant Alberto Antonini notes: ‘Less is more; but, to do less, you need to know more.’ And knowing more can apply to both the winemaker and the vineyard – because while vine age is one factor cited as crucial to success, two-thirds of Chile’s Pinot vineyard is less than 10 years old.

Chilean Pinot Noir: The facts

Total Chilean vineyard: 135,908ha

Pinot Noir vineyard: 4,041ha (3% of total)

Growth in Pinot vineyard over 10 years: +185%

Pinot Noir production (2018): 26.7 million litres

Key regions: Casablanca, San Antonio (inc Leyda), Limarí, Aconcagua Costa, Colchagua Costa, Bío Bío, Malleco

Chilean Pinot Noir: Know your vintages

2018 An abundant yield and slightly late harvest, with good potential. Some coastal areas suffered from rot. Wines seem bright, fresh and expressive.

2017 Torrid heat and forest fires beset one of the earliest, lowest-yielding vintages of modern times. Hardly ideal for Pinot but decent, complex wines have been made against the odds.

2016 Torrential autumn rain hit a slow-maturing vintage. Those winemakers who harvested early and focused on elegance escaped the worst.

2015 Warm weather gave generous wines, often very good. However, all but the best of them are to drink up now.

2014 Spring frosts hit cooler areas, but the season ended well. The wines are pure and precise. Drink up now.

Growth has slowed of late after years of expansion – while the Pinot vineyard swelled by a factor of 10 from just 411ha in 1997 to 4,012ha in 2012, plantings have stayed relatively static over the last five years. This is a positive sign, as focus switches from rolling out new vineyards to fine-tuning existing ones.

Growing confidence

In the meantime, diversity and regionality is becoming a defining feature of Chilean Pinot. Producers aren’t afraid to experiment, often boldly, and make wines that speak almost as much of their terroir as the variety itself. Elqui means piercing, savoury Pinot, while the best Limarí is more reserved, chalky and earthy. The finest coastal versions (Aconcagua Costa, Casablanca, San Antonio, Colchagua) marry a natural tension of structure with an exuberance of aromatics. The south, meanwhile, seems to be a natural home for Pinot, making elegant, foodfriendly styles that major on nuance and subtlety – we can expect great things from this area.

Chile is well set for a bright future with Pinot. Its vineyard is slowly maturing just as its winemakers are getting the hang of the variety. It’s far from being the country’s most planted variety (that’s Cabernet, with about one third of total plantings – Pinot comes in a lowly 10th). But it could yet prove to be a star, especially if greatness in quality is allied to greatness of value.

Top 24 Chilean Pinot Noir wines from the panel tasting:

See all of the wines tasted here

The judges

Martin Lam

Lam is a wine, food and restaurant consultant and a mentor of the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts. He opened London’s Le Caprice in 1981 as head chef, moving to L’Escargot in 1982. In 1992 he opened wine trade favourite Ransome’s Dock with his wife Vanessa, winning many awards including AA Best Wine List 2009.

Peter Richards MW

Richards is an award-winning broadcaster and writer, with more than a decade on BBC1 television and four books including The Wines of Chile and his own Chile Wine Brief. He is the DWWA Regional Chair for Chile and, with his wife Susie Barrie MW, he co-hosts the acclaimed annual Wine Festival Winchester.

Patricio Tapia

Tapia graduated with a degree in journalism in Santiago, before attending Bordeaux University to study winemaking. His several books include Wines for Great Occasions, The Wines of Colchagua Valley and TodoVino, as well as his annual Descorchados guide to the wines of Argentina, Chile, Brazil and Uruguay.

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