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The 13th edition of “The World’s Best Sommelier Competition” will be held in South America this year, and will host the largest group of candidates ever.  An impressive female contingent will participate in the trials, combined with a noteworthy turnout from the Asia-Pacific region.

The week-long event concludes with a spectacular gala dinner during which the World’s Best Sommelier title will be awarded for a three year period to the new champion by the previous winner, Andreas Larsson. The Moet & Chandon trophy, a silver Mathusalem engraved with all the winners’ names, will bear witness to the victory, linking the elite list of masters forever.

Miguel Torres Jr. of the infamous Torres family in Spain has been made capo de tutti capi (executive president) of the company’s Chilean operations.  This was an excellent opportunity for the 5th generation winemaker to take the bull by the horns, and show what he can do despite the global economy.  The Torres brand is set to perform fantastically with most of their wines under the $40 a bottle price point.

Torres Jr. added: “My family and I are delighted to move to Chile and embark upon a new personal and professional chapter in Curicó. We are lucky to have a great team behind us at Viña Miguel Torres which undoubtedly still have a lot of potential for growth, particularly in export markets”.

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Miguel studied at the Escuela Superior de Administración y Dirección de Empresas (ESADE) in Barcelona, Spain, considered one of the best business schools in the country. While there, he studied business management and specialized in international marketing. He also attended the University of North Carolina’s Kenan Flagler School of Business in the United States.

Researchers in Chile have embarked on a quest to find a ’super-Carmenere clone’ in a bid to improve quality and consistency of the country’s signature grape variety.

The two-year study aims to eradicate or minimise some of Carmenere’s less attractive qualities including poor fertility and fruit set, late ripening and a high pyrazine content – which can give excessively herbaceous flavours in wines.

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But the researchers insist that they still want to retain Carmenere’s distinctive character. ‘We don’t want to completely lose the green or peppery character, otherwise it won’t be Carmenere,’ said Professor Yerko Moreno of the University of Talca. ‘We don’t want something that will taste like wood and fruit.’

The research has already discovered enormous differences among the variety’s 60-plus potential clones, with some producing more than three times more pyrazines than others.

Currently producers have to rely on mass selections made in the vineyard but Moreno believes the study will uncover one or more clones of Carmenere suited to commercial production.

Moreno added, ‘I think we’re likely to be able to reduce pyrazines, but I’m not so sure about berry set. That could be a generic trait in Carmenere.’

The study is funded by Viña Casa Silva, the Chilean government and two of the country’s leading universities.