Posts Tagged ‘wine is good’

Famed winemaker Mauro von Siebenthal, a Swiss lawyer who fell in love with Chile and opened a winery in the late 1990s, will move to Chile full-time in October.

For more than a decade, von Siebenthal, whose winery Viña von Siebenthal is responsible of producing Chile’s most expensive wine, has juggled working in Switzerland while producing wine in Panquehue, in Chile’s Aconcagua Valley. During that time has had to commute to Chile four or five times a year.

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Chile’s wine exports rose over 22 percent in June, as compared to the previous year, a welcome spot of good news in a year that saw a slide in global demand, according to the industry group Vinos de Chile (Wines of Chile).

The level of bottled wine exports in June reached over 3.8 million crates, an average of US$25.93 per 12-bottle crate, totaling US$98.8 million worldwide. In June 2008, only 2.8 million crates were exported, at an average price of US$28.99 per case, totaling US$80.96 million worldwide.

June notwithstanding, year-to-date exports were down 4.4 percent compared to the previous year. Average prices, however, are higher at US$29.66 per case.

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The Chilean wine industry produced more wine, and of better quality, in 2009 than any previous year, according to a recent report by the Office of Agriculture and Livestock (SAG).

Chilean winemakers reported just over a billion liters of wine produced between July 1, 2008 and June 30, 2009, an increase of 14.5 percent over the previous year.

The 2009 production also saw a sharp rise in wines that were classified as “denominación de origen” (DO). These are wines that – by following strict quality guidelines – allow winemakers to label their wares as coming from a specific region. This year 85.9 percent of all wine produced was classified as DO, up from last year’s 79.6 percent.

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Chilean winemakers nearly swept an international wine contest this month, winning all but a few accolades at the event.

The contest, Vinalies Catad’or América Latina 2009, was held at the Hyatt Hotel in Santiago beginning July 9. The competition, put on by the French Enologists Union, included over 70 samples from France, Italy, Spain and Portugal, as well as Brazil, Uruguay and Bolivia.

Chilean vineyards came out the big winners of the event, taking home 51 of 52 gold medals and 64 of 69 silver medals. “Best Red,” a 2007 Shiraz from the Arboleda Vineyard, and “Best White,” a 2009 Sauvignon Blanc from J. Bouchon were among the judges’ favorites.

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Are you?

Before this post truly begins, a short note. The last few days have been filled with both extraordinary fun and hair-pulling frustrations. I will describe the happy moments in full detail, but first, a short rant  (chee chee to follow).

Another short note: I feel asleep writing this (which speaks volumes about how fascinating it must be, of course), and I finished it in the morning. So when I say “today” and “yesterday,” I really mean Tuesday and Monday. Please correct mentally accordingly.  -Ed

WordPress ate another one of my posts that I had intended to publish just before leaving for the weekend, and rewriting is one of the things I can’t stand in this world. It’s hard to place exactly why. Sure, it’s confusing for me, remembering what I wrote and didn’t write, having pull change those “did” and “didn’t” boxes in my head to convince myself that I need to write it again. But there’s also the terrible job of trying to remember the specific words and turns of phrase from the first version, particularly if the first version was one that you liked. It won’t be the same, and it just feels more stale than the fresh, first draft that you shot off before.

The other side for me is that I hate to waste time, or do things that resemble wasting time. Now, don’t get me wrong, I procrastinate as much (if not more) than the next guy, and I make time everyday to do nothing productive. I just have a desire to do as many things at once, even (and especially) if they’re not productive. This also takes the form of my inability to read books twice, even short, beloved ones, and my lack of desire to watch any movie more than once that isn’t SWAT.

That said: rewriting, and the requisite saving to a third-party app, will commence (with additional content)… now.

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