As the country celebrates Wine Day, it sees strong local and European competition for its product among the American public, which it addresses with campaigns that improve its perception not only as accessible, but also of high quality. Meanwhile, India opens the door to a market of 1.4 billion consumers, where the problem is the very high taxes of a highly protectionist economy.
A three-course dinner with different Chilean wines at the famous Santiago restaurant El Toro, accompanied by a live and in-depth interview with a renowned local winemaker. And before finishing, standing and with their hand on their heart, all diners must take an oath, like that of loyalty to the flag, only to the country's musts.
This is how one of the many evenings that New York chef Paul Grieco, owner of the Terroir restaurant in the bohemian neighborhood of Tribeca, spent in Chile during the month of April. The restaurant is famous for its meticulously curated wine lists, which have earned awards and praise throughout the Big Apple.
His intervention was part of the Terroir Pop-Up Chile project to improve the perception of the national product, not only in terms of accessibility, but also in the high-end segment, in a highly competitive global context, carried out by the Chilean wine industry, grouped in the Wines of Chile association.
Grieco's fascination with Chile arose from a casual conversation at his bar, after discovering that per capita wine consumption in Chile had declined despite the high quality of its production. Paul Grieco decided it was time to intervene.
"I already loved the wines, the grapes and the history of Chile before I came here. I knew the people who make these wines and the diversity of the terroirs in this country. Why should Chile be in the background in the world of wine?" Grieco explained to local media.
This project seeks not only to bring the unique terroir experience to Chile, but also to highlight the deep traditional value of Chilean wine in a highly competitive US market, where Chile faces the best wines in the world: local Napa Valley production, plus all the European and Australian wines.
“The main objective in this market is to improve the perception of Chilean wines, not only as accessible, but also as high-quality products, especially in the higher-value wine segment (more than US$15 per bottle),” said Angélica Valenzuela, commercial director of Wines of Chile to AméricaEconomía .
Chilean wines have performed well in markets such as Brazil (number one in market share ), China (number 2) and Japan (number one in volume), but the United States rose to third place with 19.37% of the exported value and some US$ 81.5 million, while the North American country, according to figures up to July 2024, is positioned as the second market with 31.56% of volume.
The most recent data from the association indicate that Chilean bottled wine exports in July registered a significant increase with the shipment of 5.2 million cases worth US$ 150 million. This represents an increase of 38.2% in volume and 25.4% in value, compared to the same month in 2023, and is the first month since August 2022 that the level of 5 million cases has been exceeded.
The average price was US$28.7 per box, a drop of -9.2%.
The main markets performed very well that month, but Brazil stands out in particular, receiving more than 1 million boxes, surpassing the maximum reached for that destination in September 2020. The USA, Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Colombia, the Netherlands and Mexico also grew.
The exception was China and Canada.
In the cumulative period up to July, bottled wine exports are in positive territory compared to the same period of the previous year, with an increase of 14.1% in volume and 6.3% in value. The average price has dropped by -6.9% in this period, with US$27.5/case. The increase in exports to Brazil, the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, the Netherlands, Canada, Mexico and Ireland stands out.
To continue to encourage the U.S. market to learn more about Chilean wines, Grieco not only conducted tastings in different typical Chilean locations, said Angélica Valenzuela, but also recorded a series of 11 video content segments that are being broadcast in English for the United States, where she interviews Chilean winemakers—specialists in the science of wine and winemaking—from wineries such as Concha y Toro, Viña Montes, Viña Santa Rita, Viña Errazuriz, among others, while they enjoy local food.
THE ADVENTURE IN INDIA
At the end of August, the Chilean government embarked on a trade mission to India, called Chile Summit India, with more than 20 meetings and commercial events in two cities, in which several trade associations participated, including Wines of Chile, headed by Angélica Valenzuela.
Just before leaving, Valenzuela told AméricaEconomía that they would seek to continue promoting Chilean wines, but at the same time they would seek a reduction in taxes.
“Today, taxes in India are 150% to start with, and then there are other taxes by province, by region,” said Valenzuela.
This currently taxes Chilean products and makes them luxurious.
The goal of the wine industry is to aim for a CEPA, a type of comprehensive and progressive treaty like the one with Indonesia, which expands agreements and adds products as time goes by and bilateral trade increases.
“The idea here is to include wine and make a profit,” said Valenzuela.
Wines of Chile does not believe that it can be like the one that already exists with Australia, a country that competes with Chile in the wine sector, which achieved a reduction of the tax to zero for wines costing more than US$ 60 FOB over a period of five years.
“We are asking for exactly that. This figure protects the Indian wine industry to a certain extent, but at the same time makes it possible for our wines to enter the market without this tax,” he said.
As in other industries, India has enormous potential due to its population, but also because it is experiencing very interesting GDP growth due to China's poor recovery, which has led many brands to focus on its market.
“There is a certain movement where there is a lot of interest in Western things, and where women are getting into wine consumption a lot, and it is something we will focus on during the trip,” said Valenzuela.
One of the strains they are interested in promoting for the Indian market is Carmenere, a strain rediscovered in Chile 30 years ago and which is slowly gaining momentum as a Chilean flagship, alongside the traditional Cabernet Sauvignon.
“It is a variety that pairs very well with Indian food. In fact, we learned this when we did some tastings in England four years ago with Carmenere pairings, and they worked spectacularly with curry dishes and typical Indian dishes,” Valenzuela concluded.
