Croser heads Santa Rita workshop

Brian Croser will headline the panel for the inaugural South American Wine Workshops, organised by Santa Rita Estates.

The Tapanappa winemaker, who also consults for Santa Rita, will be in London for the event, which takes place at Altitude 360, Millbank, on 16 and 17 January.

Other speakers include winemakers from Santa Rita’s various estates in Chile and Argentina and Peter Richards MW, who will make presentations on both days, while Tim Atkin MW will chair proceedings on day one.

Open to the wider trade, as well as Santa Rita’s own customers and distributors, highlights from the two days include a 21-year vertical tasting of Santa Rita’s flagship, Casa Real and a keynote speech from Croser, who has built a reputation as a “terroirist” for his work in matching grape varieties to specific vineyard sites.

The event will also feature a debate on what the future holds for South American wine, as well as a benchmark tasting, which will set Chilean and Argentine wines against examples from the rest of the world.

The South American Wine Workshops precede a trip organised by the Santa Rita Wine Academy for later in the year, which will take a group of 12 wine trade representatives to Chile and Argentina for a series of vineyard visits, along with viticulture and sustainability lectures, to be followed by a formal exam.

Setting out the company’s aim through these initiatives, Terry Pennington, commercial director for Santa Rita Estates, explained: “We are investing heavily in increasing awareness of the excellent quality of wines out of both Chile and Argentina and our plan over the next three years is to share our knowledge and expertise with both the UK & Ireland wine trade and the end consumer.”

For more information or to register, email Caroline Park on caroline@cmpark.co.uk