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Friday read: Chile's female winemakers on a UK mission

Five female winemakers travelled 7,500 miles from the Ñuble region in Chile to present their wines within influential European markets, including visiting London and Dublin, and hoping to create opportunities to promote their wines internationally.

The event kicked off with a wine tasting at the Chilean Embassy in London where the five businesswomen had their first opportunity to promote their brands.

• Read more: Viña Carmen welcomes Ana María Cumsille as winemaker

Senay Ozdemir, founder and CEO of Women and Wine Expo said she was delighted when she was contacted by ProChile UK to organise the event.

“ProChile UK (the Trade body of the Chilean government) wanted to give women winegrowers a chance to explore influential markets in Europe and generate opportunities for them. So, they made a call for five women-owned wineries from Itata Valley to participate and to enter the British and Irish market.

“The participation is about learning about the country’s wine trade market, presenting their wines during a tasting, where they also have meetings with importers, wine experts, press and influencers. The women of course are hoping to penetrate the UK & Ireland wine market,” Senay said.

Senay told how ProChile asked the Women and Wine Expo to create an inspiring and majestic experience for these women, which she feels they have delivered: “We were pleased to bring the women to an urban winery in London, Blackbook Winery, a concept that is not well-known in most countries. We organized a masterclass about the UK wine trade given by Lulie Halstead, the founder of Wine Intelligence. The women also got the chance to present their natural wines and allowed the British Wine Trade to taste them.”

One of the winemakers who made the trip, María Loreto Alarcón Müffeler, owner of Itata Women Vinyard, said she took part in the mission to seek out new markets while also sharing her knowledge of eco-friendly winemaking.

Asked why she travelled to the UK, Müffeler said she came “to make ourselves known and open the UK and Irish markets, positioning [ourselves within] the niche markets to which our products and the story inside each bottle aspire”.

Müffeler added she wants to have the opportunity to show a new concept of wines made on a human scale, “taking care of the ecosystem in which our activities are developed while preserving the family and farming traditions that link us to this land”.

Another winemaker who made the journey to the UK is Soledad Prado, co-founder of Viña Prado, a family-owned winery and vineyard in the Itata Valley.

Soledad said she feels that although women have always been part of winemaking, historically, they have not been credited.

“Women have always had a very important role in winemaking, principally during the harvest and in the most delicate cellar work, but it has never been visualised. There are very few emblematic women in the history of wine and they were either widowers or the only child inheriting the family estates.

“In the Itata Valley, we realised there is an important number of women taking the lead in the family vineyards. A place which would traditionally be taken by a male sibling is taken by the females,” Soledad said.

When asked about what she hopes to achieve from her visit to London and Dublin, Soledad said that she wishes to enhance the perception of Chilean wines in a market full of opportunities.

“The UK is a market of great strategy. It is a world benchmark in the wine sector so for Itata as an upcoming wine region, it is an important stage to showcase what we have. In this mission, we are five very different women winemakers, all bonded by the love and passion we have for this valley.

“We are very conscious about the perception people in the UK have about the Chilean wine, which is good entry-level wines with a good ratio between price and quality. So for starters, we are aiming to change this perception and show people the amazing premium quality wines we are producing and how unique, expressive, elegant and refreshing wines they can be,” she concluded.

Women in Wine Expo is now getting ready to kick off their next international Expo, which will take place from 8-10 May 2024 in Portugal.

• Women in Wine
• female winemaking
• Chil
• Itata Valley
• wine expo
• influential markets
• women winegrowers