Dear
family and friends,
Some
twenty odd years ago I heard a talk by Hugh Johnson, a well-known English wine
writer. He was discussing the elements that were required to produce great
wines; grape variety, climate, terroir, vintage, wine-making techniques, and,
lastly, he added, a discriminating wine consumer. He then pointed out that in
his view the best grape-growing region in the world was Chile, but
serious wines were not being produced there because that last ingredient, a
demanding public, was absent. At the time of Johnson's remarks, there were few
Chilean wines available in B.C., Gato Negro and Undurraga are the two I
remember. Since that time we have all come to enjoy the expanded line up of
quaffable, fruit driven wines from Chile, with each new listing
seeming to be better than the previous. It is easy to understand why, when I
first contemplated a trip to South
America, Chile
was my number one destination on the continent.
