Chile surpasses France as top wine exporter to Japan

Well deserved, I think. There are some great Chilean wines. A Chilean carménère easily beats an equivalently-priced cabernet sauvignon from anywhere on almost every scale.

Moonraker JAN. 30, 2016 - 02:44PM JST A Chilean carménère easily beats an equivalently-priced cabernet sauvignon from anywhere on almost every scale.

Some seemingly rhetorical questions actually have answers, while others require a good bit more pondering. Why is Chilean wine considered cheap? Though the quality of Chile's wines has risen dramatically recently, the world, by and large, still regards them as bottom-rung, at least in terms of price.

Sfjp, because the know nothing hoi-polloi will buy even vinegar if it says on the bottle "chateau whatever"made in France. As a rule, pay AT LEAST two times as more for a French wine if you want the same quality as a Chilean wine.

ebisen JAN. 30, 2016 - 03:24PM JST As a rule, pay AT LEAST two times as more for a French wine if you want the same quality as a Chilean wine.

I was surprised to learn that nearly 100% of all Carmenere wines (dark skinned-grape) made in Chile are acidulated. France and California wine producers would never do this. This means that the winemaker adds tartaric acid to the wine during the winemaking process to boost the acid levels of the finished wine. Wines without enough acidity don't taste very good, of course. Carmenere, by the time it gets fully ripe, apparently doesn't have enough acid to make a well balanced wine on its own. At least not the way it is grown in Chile at the moment. So apparently Chilean winemakers are faced with only two choices: add acid, or blend in other grapes that can correct the lack of acidity. Also, I'm sorry to say it, but there isn't a lot of great Pinot Noir being grown in Chile.

Nope, but the best Cabernet Sauvignons are grown there, to compensate. Not a lot great Pinot Noir is grown in France as well, most of it comes with defects. The most over rated wine ever.

Why is Chilean wine considered cheap?

Because it costs less than the other stuff?

Though the quality of Chile's wines has risen dramatically recently, the world, by and large, still regards them as bottom-rung, at least in terms of price.

= It tastes pretty good, and it doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Low price is a Good Thing.

the know nothing hoi-polloi will buy even vinegar if it says on the bottle "chateau whatever"made in France.

I'm a proud member of the know-nothing hoi polloi (whether it's art or booze, I don't know much about it but I Know What I Like), and it took only one bottle of expensive vinegar many many years ago to teach me that What I Like comes with a pocket-friendly price. I buy quite a bit of Chile wine (though I don't think I'm personally responsible for the whole of the 700% increase...) My local supermarket does a pretty good South African wine too, with a lion on the label.

Since I can't tell a Merlot from a Cabernet Sauvignon, a bottle of Three Buck Chuck is good enough for me.

Cleo, that's the spirit. Don't buy something because it's fashionable, but because it's of quality or because you simply like it. This works very well with wines.

For all that matters, my favorite table wine of the past months is "Apothic Dark". You can find it online or at Yamaya, and it's an extraordinary good blend for its price ;) .

Forget about brand names,there are wonderful wine from Chile,and South Africa,good price and good quality.

Guess they're duking it out for whom they can sucker to pay the most for vinegar. Do they have a "Benejolais"? :)

Not only that, but Chile is also the top wine importer to Japan.

Thanks for the information about the acidulation of carmenere, sfjp330. I was not aware of that. I don't know how it affects my opinion of it just yet. I was persuaded of its taste at a Hanshin Dept store wine Fayre a few years ago and since then have often searched it out at wine shops, with few disappointments. Though I knew the grape variety does have limitations. The story behind its rediscovery in Chile is quite interesting.

I've made wines for more than 30 years, traveled specifically to enjoy them in Argentina, Chile, California, Tuscany and France, and can only add this to the comments thus far - find a wine you like, buy it, drink it. Don't care what other people say, it's all a matter of taste buds, and our taste buds differ as much as our genes.

And, @ebisen, you obviously know nothing about CabSauvs. The best come from small vineyards in Napa Valley, from where I've just come home after three weeks of selecting vintages for local outlets. As for Pinot, you need to get a nose for it. Chilean vineyards are making very decent wines, some even extraordinarily good (I was there for the picking and tasting, last year), but before you pontificate like you know something more than the other commenters here, you could learn a lot more about what makes a truly good wine.

Well deserved. Also think they are well adapted to japanese cuisine, more so than some french wines which are imo more suited to game and other strong meats.

Chile wine is a god sent for my place. Amazing wine with amazing price tags. Well deserved.

Just finished off a nice bottle of Chilean Sauvignon Blanc. Great taste and great value. Nuff said.

Good to hear this, I've been really into Chilean wines for the past few years. I would like to see more Aussie wines though

Have nothing against Chilean wine, in fact I buy a large quantity of them for cooking but in terms of drinking they just taste the same. Basically all affordable wine tastes the same no matter where they come from with their fruitiness but have little to offer in other nuances that makes great wine great. As a daily table wine Chilean wine(and all other affordable wine) may have it's place on the table but for a special occasion it just can't beat a more well known vintage wine that will be pricey but will provide what you are looking for in a bottle of good wine.

Well desrved. The French wine began to be marketted worldwidely before there were any attention-worthy competitors and for several decades it was considered the best for lack of good competition. "French wine" has been (very successfully branded) by the French wine industry but great competitors have entered the market and have learned to make better wines, which also happen to be more affordable. In addition to Chille, South Africa, California, Some parts of Europe import wine which in its more part is way better than the French wine.

@Triring: Basically all affordable wine tastes the same no matter where they come from with their fruitiness but have little to offer in other nuances that makes great wine great.

Wow. And some people talk about Japan as a country where the popularity and sales of wine depend on the brand and the price!

Ebisen: Sfjp, because the know nothing hoi-polloi will buy even vinegar if it says on the bottle "chateau whatever"made in France.

While that may have been true when wine entered the Japanese spirits market and until about a decade ago, the Japanese have developed a taste for wine and have learned that while if you pay an obsene amount of money for a "Chateau something" you might enjoy the taste, there are equally and even more enjoyable wines which do not make you think twice when you see their price tags.

The other day I opened a bottle of (not so pocket-friendly) Bourgogne which cought my attention with the expalanation on the label that it was made using the Chillean wine-making methods. Compared to the authentic Chillean wines, the wine offered nothihng special in terms of taste and flavour so I think I will not experiment again.