6 John Stimpfig
‘Eduardo Chadwick: Chile could not wish for a better champion’
Since we began the Decanter Man or woman of the Year award in 1984, there have been immensely distinguished winners from around the wine world including France, germany, the UK and the US, Lebanon, australia, italy, Spain, Portugal and austria. with that long list of countries in mind i offer my sincere congratulations to eduardo chadwick, who becomes the very first chilean to receive this hugely prestigious accolade.
it goes without saying that each year, the competition is incredibly tough. So too are the judging criteria; the winner must have made a major and lasting contribution to wine, both in their own field or region and beyond. as you will see from Peter Richards Mw’s interview (turn to p38), chadwick meets those criteria in spades.
Some years ago, i wrote in a Financial Times article that chadwick was surely destined to become a Decanter Man of the Year. i recall saying that, even then, he had already done for chile what the likes of Robert Mondavi, Miguel Torres and Len evans had done for their respective regions and countries. He is a heroic and indefatigable ambassador for his country’s wines and wine industry, and chile could not wish for a better champion. equally, Decanter could not have chosen a more deserving or popular winner.
in what is something of a bumper issue, i would also like to draw your attention to another wine hero. Last October, the Signorello winery in napa Valley was burned to the ground by the fires that swept across california wine country. Fortunately, Ray Signorello Jr and his staff emerged unscathed as did his vineyards and wine stocks, including the 2017 vintage. However, visitors to the famous winery on the Silverado Trail (see Travel, p142) will have to wait until it is rebuilt. The plans have already been drawn up and Signorello will rise again. ‘but it’s very sad,’ he told Decanter. ‘There was over 30 years of history in the original building.’
Lastly, i’d like to tell you about a change to our Panel Tastings. From this issue we have begun to give our expert judges more information on the price of individual wines when they blind taste them. in all of our Panel Tastings (from p99 in this issue), wines were put into three price bands – under £15, £15-£30 and over £30 – with the firm intention of recognising and rewarding quality and value. i believe this is a useful and welcome addition.