Maximum Chile
Something of a throwback article, this one – revisiting the top marks I gave to a glorious Chilean Chardonnay (Aristos Duquesa d’A 2008) in Decanter magazine’s January 2012 edition. The reason for posting this now? Something of a hullabaloo about wine critic James Suckling giving a perfect score (100/100) to another beautiful Chilean wine, Viñedo Chadwick 2014.
It seems that a lot of people are getting their knickers in a twist about whether or not Suckling’s was the first ‘perfect’ score for a Chilean wine or not. Personally, I don’t think it matters that much either way. The quality (and diversity) of Chilean wine has gone through the roof in recent years and it’s great to see this improvement in the wines getting the recognition it deserves. The significance of numerical points can be over-stated; the important thing is that both Duquesa d’A and Viñedo Chadwick are wines that get you excited – among the many others out there doing a very similar and commendable job. I wouldn’t want to deny anyone the chance to shout about that.
[Peter Richards MW on Chilean whites in Decanter, January 2012]