The epic June 18th Wines of Chile Miami Wine Bar War at The Moore Building yielded one winning team, but the true victor was the restaurant, wine and tourism trade in Miami – who turned out in record numbers. Wines of Chile, the Guild of Sommeliers, LATAM Airlines Group and Turismo Chile partnered for their second annual Miami Wine Bar War, challenging four teams with four sommeliers each (16 in total), representing the greater Miami area’s top sommeliers, to design and build a Chilean-inspired wine bar in one day for the chance to win a once in a lifetime trip to Chile in Premium Business class on LAN Airlines.
The one-of-a-kind competition required sommeliers to build a bar using 32 of Chile’s finest wines, including at least 4 LAN Premium Business wines, and find design inspiration from one of four tourism destination within Chile, The North, The Central Valley, The Lakes and Volcanoes region and Patagonia. The final result was four Chilean inspired pop-up wine bars, showcasing Chile’s unique and beautiful country.
Chosen by the Guild of Sommeliers, the four team captains were accomplished wine connoisseurs: Team ‘Natural Roots,’ was helmed by the Certified Sommelier of the Fontainebleau’s Hakassan, Brian Grandison; Team ‘El Huaso’ was led by The Breakers Palm Beach Advanced Sommelier Greg Rivera; Uvaggio Wine Bar’s managing partner Advanced Sommelier, Heath Porter, directed Team ‘Fire and Ice’ and Certified Sommelier at Michael’s Genuine Food &Drink, Amanda Fraga, commanded Team ‘Ungrafted.’
Bars were evaluated on wine selection and knowledge, service/hospitality, originality of concept and execution by a panel of accomplished judges; Geoff Kruth Chief Operating Officer Guild of Sommeliers; Ernesto Echeverry, Marketing Director of LATAM Airlines Group, USA, Canada and Caribbean; Ingrid Hoffman celebrity chef, author, and host of Top Chef Estrellas Telemundo; and Charlie Arturaola, Certified Sommelier and designated Chevalier by the Ordre des Coteaux de Champagnes, Wine Communicator of the Year at the IWSC, UK by VINITALY, and Confraria dos Vinhos do Porto.
The event hosted over 500 VIP trade guests and consumers who were asked also asked to vote. Both attendees and the judges’ panel designated Brian Grandison’s “Natural Roots Bar” as the winner, but ‘El Huaso’ was close behind as the runner up. Each pop-up bar featured at least one wine from LAN and TAM Airlines’ 2015 Premium Business Class wine list, and the LAN Premium Business wine poured at “Natural Roots Bar’ was Viña Maipo Protegido Cabernet Sauvignon, 2009. Their tourism destination was Chile’s north and their design mimicked a miners’ bar with shuttered windows looking out on the Elqui Valley – a destination renowned for wine and pisco production and it’s unrivaled clear skies for stargazing.
Miami Wine Bar War was festive, refined and loaded with fine wines. Don’t miss next year, its $40 all you can drink premium Chilean wine.
