Alistair Cooper MW launches Latin American wine guide

English Master of Wine, Alistair Cooper, has launched a guide to Latin American wine featuring wines from Chile, Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay.

The guide, which is free to access online, has been launched in collaboration with South America’s longest running wine competition,the Cata d’Or Wine Awards, which began in 1995. Cooper has served as president of the jury for the competition for the past two years.

Featuring both boutique producers and big guns, the guide is designed to be a tool for consumers and importers who are keen to learn more about South American wines.

Over 900 wines were tasted by Cooper and Pablo Ugarte, director of Cata d’Or, for consideration in the guide, with only those scoring above 89 points making the cut.

“It’s very exciting to launch the first edition of the guide. We spent three weeks tasting over 900 wines across Chile, Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina.

“There is such a buzz at the moment in the Latin American wine industry, and the past decade has seen such a leap forward in quality and innovation,” Cooper told db.

“Getting to know and gain a deeper knowledge and understanding of both Brazil and Uruguay over the past few years has been a revelation.

“We hope this guide will be a great tool for consumers and producers, as well as importers and retailers across the globe,” he added.

The guide is available in three languages: English, Spanish and Portuguese, and Cooper has a series of event planned around the world to showcase many of the award-winning wines and help the producers to raise their international profile.

“The younger generation of winemakers are really leading the way and there is so much rising talent in Latin America – this is a thrilling time to be involved in the burgeoning South American wine scene. There is still work to be done to show both the trade and consumers in the UK how exciting Latin American wine is.

“The trade has slowly begun to embrace the more premium offerings from Chile and Argentina, and there has been a slight improvement in the on-trade at the premium end,” Cooper said.

“Sommeliers are beginning to list some of the more exciting South American wines that are available in the UK, which is a positive step. But there are many superb projects that are not yet represented here.

“Uruguay has positioned itself well and is beginning to show its diversity of grapes and styles, while Brazil continues to surprise – the sparkling wines are superb and many wineries are showing real innovation in the vineyard,” he added. To view Cooper’s wine guide, click here.