John Duval at home in the Barossa Valley( photo by Richard Humphrys)
a new world partnership:
AN INTERVIEW WITH JOHN DUVAL
By Mike Muirhead, Sommelier( ISG, CMS), CSW
John Duval has had an enviable wine career. Named Red Winemaker of the Year twice at the International Wine Challenge in London, Duval worked with Penfolds of the Barossa Valley for 29 years, holding the post of Chief Winemaker for 17 years. He has found success with his own Barossa Valley vineyard, John Duval Wines, and joined international winemaking superstars for the Long Shadows project in Washington. In this interview, Duval gives us a look at Chile as an“ outsider on the inside” as he discusses his partnership with one of Chile’ s most exciting wine producers, Viña Ventisquero. We explore where Chile is going on the global wine stage and how his experience with Barossa Shiraz led to an exciting new enological partnership in Chile between Syrah and Carménère.
MM: John, since we’ re doing a feature issue on Chile, we thought we’ d speak to an Australian! Perhaps you can give us an outsider’ s view of the emerging Chilean market, though you’ ve obviously put some roots down in Chile as a consulting winemaker at Viña Ventisquero. In the past, Chile established a reputation as part of the bulk market— selling grapes and wine to markets at very low prices. But, the quality of wine that has been coming out of Chile has just kept getting better, and it’ s evolving into a wonderful wine region. What first drew you to Chile?
JD: Like a lot of things in life, it was all about the timing. Felipe Tosso [ Chief Enologist and Vineyard Manager ] at
Ventisquero and Aurelio Montes [ of Montes Premium Wines ], who was consulting for Ventisquero at the time, heard I was leaving Penfolds to start my own wine company. Aurelio, who I had met at international wine shows, and who had been to visit me in the Barossa, initially contacted me on Felipe’ s behalf. When a few of the senior Ventisquero people had a tour of the Australian wine industry, I caught up with them, and next thing I knew, I was flying out to Chile. When I saw the potential of the region, I was pretty excited about it.
MM: Ventisquero is quite an operation! They haven’ t done anything in half measures. They are only 10 years
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