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About the South America Wine Guide

by Amanda Barnes

The ultimate Latin Amerian wine guide for Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, Bolivia & Peru

The South America Wine Guide is the first digital Latin American wine book and guide, first established in 2013, offering a wine and travel guide to the wine regions and destinations of Latin America.

Founded by award-winning wine and travel writer Amanda Barnes it has become the quintessential book to South American wine regions, wine producers and travel destinations. At the very core of the South America Wine Guide is an in-depth and local knowledge, digging deep into the terroirs of Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, Bolivia and Peru, and spending time with the winemakers and producers that make the Latin American wine scene so unique and exciting.

In our free winery guide to Latin America, you’ll also find a complete guide and directory for:

Meet the team: South America Wine Guide

Amanda Barnes: specialist wine writer in South America

Amanda Barnes is a British wine and travel writer based in South America since 2009 exploring the vineyards, kitchens, mountain tops, ocean floors and all the bits in between. An award-winning journalist and writer, Amanda writes for Decanter, Wine Enthusiast, Daily.SevenFifty, The Telegraph, The Guardian, The Drinks Business, Daily.SevenFifty, Hugh Johnson’s Wine Guide (South America correspondent), Wine Enthusiast, Avaunt, Oz Clarke’s Pocket Wine Book (Chile correspondent), Mr & Mrs Smith, Vivino, Wines of Chile, Berry Bros, Wine-Searcher, The Tasting Panel, Fodor’s travel guides (Chile & Argentina), Norwegian Air Magazine and Time Out among others. Amanda is a sought-after specialist in South American wine regions, producers and travel destinations. You can read more about Amanda on www.amandabarnes.co.uk, follow her on twitter @amanda_tweeter or instagram @amanda_wine

“Amanda is becoming one of the most important resources for South American wines. She not only has a grasp of the landscape and larger players and she has committed herself to searching out smaller wineries, up-and-coming regions, unusual varietals, and specifically championing those winemakers who are pushing the boundaries today. She is embedded in the wine culture and scene in Argentina, which makes her an invaluable resource to many publications where she writes eloquently and truthfully about the region. I feel that she continues to do a great job promoting Argentina as a world class wine region in a humble and educated manner. Speaking for the USA, I think she is at the forefront of this new movement from Argentina getting wineries and regions their deserved recognition with sommeliers and the consumer in general. I always enjoy reading Amanda’s articles and I feel like I always learn something – and I visit Mendoza 3 times a year on wine-focused business. I look forward to continuing to see her grow and having her as a type of ambassador for Argentine and South American wines in general!”

– Jon Chaplin, Brazos Wine, specialist importer, New York


“I met Amanda some years ago in deep Maule, when few people were interested in this region. While most people were just looking at trendy wines, Amanda was focusing on discovering the real history of Chilean wine and looking to tell the world the story of our old País vines.”

– Julio Bouchon, winemaker at Bouchon Family Wines in Chile


“It’s always great to see the passion, enthusiasm and commitment that Amanda has for wine and, in particular, South American wine. In her search to discover new regions, stories and people, she was the first journalist to visit us in Cara Sur in the Calingasta valley – a place that is very difficult to reach. I wish the world of wine had more people with her energy for exploring and communicating.”

– Sebastian Zuccardi, winemaker at Zuccardi in Argentina


“Proactive, dedicated and broad-minded, Amanda is a great asset for Uruguayan wines. Her extensive knowledge and endless curiosity is remarkable; her numerous visits have always been positive for us, and her articles about Uruguay have always reflected our singular diversity.”

– Martin Lopez, INAVI (Wines of Uruguay)


“Amanda was the first wine journalist to visit us in Ica and when she arrived, she showed her true conviction that the terroir (Ica) and the grape (Quebranta) deserved a valued position in the world. Her report was published and the ancestral wines of Peru, the Quebranta grape variety and Ica Valley had the privilege of being known by a global market for the first time. Her discovery of grapes, territories and styles is communicated with knowledge and a lot of passion.”

– Pepe Moquillaza, Peruvian winemaker and wine ambassador of PromPeru


“It’s hard to imagine anyone who knows more and is more passionate about Argentine wine. Amanda has done wonders in promoting and informing the UK about the wine scene in Argentina. Long may she continue!”

– Phil Crozier, Wines of Argentina ambassador UK


“Having left Argentina hugely enthused after the MW visit there in February, I was extremely happy to have my memories refreshed by Amanda Barnes’s Masterclass at the London Wine Fair. As it turned out, this was very much an exercise in learning rather than refreshment because Amanda managed to feature a highly diverse array of wine regions in South America, most of which were new to me. Amanda’s love of South America came through loud and clear.”

– Richard Bampfield MW (former Chairman of the Association of Wine Educators), UK


“There are few people I would call true experts on South American wine – and Amanda is at the top of my list. Not only did she build her base of wine journalism and education on the ground in Mendoza, Argentina, but she simultaneously gained incredible respect from the local wineries for her approachability and authenticity in sharing their stories and wines. She then paved her own way to become a renowned journalist on the world stage as the authority on reporting on South American wine in publications. From our perspective as a US importer of premium Chilean and Argentine wine, Amanda has been an invaluable resource as a press advocate for these more challenging categories for the US trade. During GuildSomm partnership trips, Amanda organized fantastic in-depth educational tastings in both Chile and Argentina. Each of her presentations largely influenced the US sommelier community to rethink these countries as fine wine producers. Amanda is entrepreneurial, committed, innovative and delivers.”

– Elizabeth Butler, Vine Connections, specialist importer, California


Helen J Conway: Sub-editor

Helen is a fellow Brit, although she and Amanda met in Chile, where Helen has been living and working as a translator for over a decade. Helen has been writing and sub-editing for Around the World in 80 Harvests since 2016 and since 2018 Helen contributes to the South America Wine Guide as a writer, sub-editor and Chilean panel taster.

When she isn’t tasting wines from around South America, she is tasting wines from around the world as she finishes her WSET diploma. And when Helen isn’t wine tasting, she’s working on translations and creative writing for wineries in Chile.

You can find out more about Helen (and her translation and copywriting services) on her website www.helenjconway.com.

 

Clorrie Yeomans: Assistant editor & contributor

Clorrie is currently completing her degree in Spanish and French at Durham University in the UK, however, she’s basing herself in Argentina’s wine capital this winter. She got itchy feet at a very young age and has since travelled throughout Europe; learning the local lingos and trying as many weird and wonderful dishes as possible!

Clorrie has lived in Barcelona and Toulouse where she got her first taste of living in wine producing countries, and now her taste buds have urged her to venture beyond her Bordeaux red and experience New World wine.

 

 

Aaron Neilson-Belman: Tech Support

Canadian-born but an avid traveller, Aaron first came to South America in 2009. He and Amanda met while Couchsurfing in Pucon, Chile. After a night drinking copious amounts of Chilean wine they decided to sky dive over a volcano the next morning. Here’s the evidence of Aaron skydiving and of Amanda skydiving.

Today Aaron resides between Mexico and Canada where he works as a web developer among other things. He’s also known as the Hippy Van Man (check out his travel chronicles online!) and continues discovering beautiful corners of the world while working as a digital nomad.

The South America Wine Guide wine tasting panel and team

Chile Curator: Rodrigo Pica 

Rodrigo Pica has an encyclopaedic knowledge of Chilean wine (and much further afield!) Although Rodrigo is lawyer by day, he is not only a wine enthusiast by night but also has a wine radio show — La Mesa Coja — and you can regularly find him at wine fairs around the country’s wine regions, both large and small, tasting through the latest releases and vintages.

Rodrigo is one of the few people in South America who has tasted over 1,300 labels from Chile. We are thrilled to have Rodrigo as our Chile Curator, who will undoubtedly imbue the guide with great wine selections to be shortlisted and tasted in our South America Wine Awards.

 

Alvaro Tello, Chilean wine writer for South America Wine Guide. Vinocracria and wine historian

Álvaro Tello: Chilean Chronicler

Santiago-born Álvaro has been writing about Chilean wine for over 15 years but it wasn’t until 2018 when he found his place in Chilean wine country, among the old and lesser-discovered vines of Colchagua where he now resides.

A storyteller by nature, Álvaro is exploring the history of Chilean wine and its diversity of grape varieties through his investigative work with local producers and the local government. He writes his own blog Vinocracia.cl and we are chuffed to have him as a contributor and panel taster for South America Wine Guide.

 

Bolivia Co-Curator: Darren Armstrong

US-born sommelier Darren Armstrong spent over 15 years working in the hospitality industry through the United States and Europe, before moving to Bolivia in 2014. Darren worked as sommelier and manager at Gustu, a restaurant focused on promoting local wines, ingredients, and traditions, and fell in love with Bolivia — becoming a national citizen.

Having returned to the US in 2017, he now works as a consultant and focuses his efforts on creating a link between his native and adopted countries, spreading the word about Bolivian wine and culture. Darren is not only a co-curator for our Bolivian wine panel but we’re honoured to have him write for the South America Wine Guide too as one of our Bolivian wine experts and share his beautiful photography.

 

Bolivia Co-Curator: Bertil Levin Tøttenborg

Bertil Levin Tøttenborg is the leading sommelier in Bolivia sourcing new and engaging Bolivian wines for Gustu restaurant in La Paz where he is Head Sommelier and Restaurant Manager. Born in Denmark, Bertil he spent a few years training and working as Head Sommelier at Geist, before moving to Bolivia to start at Gustu in 2015.

Today he has over 100 Bolivian wine labels on the menu at Gustu, considered one of the top restaurants of Latin America. It is with great pleasure to have Bertil on the Bolivia panel and as a co-curator, bringing his great judgement and enthusiasm for Bolivian wine to the table.

 

Team Brazil: Rudá Serra

Rudá is always on a mission to find the most interesting wines and unique expressions of grapes and wine regions across South America.

Although born and bred in Brazil, you’ll often find him in the vineyards of Chile and Argentina where he seeks out artisanal and organic wine producers to import to Brazil with WineSommelier4U (check out his favourite wines on Instagram!)

As a keen climber, he’s often also to be found scaling mountains in South America and beyond (such as Illimani in Bolivia at 6,438m in the photo)!

 

Team Bolivia: Juan Gutierrez

Bolivian sommelier Juan Gutierrez is passionate about teaching his fellow countrymen about the great wine they have in Bolivia, and encouraging people to drink outside the box!

Although based in the wine valleys of Santa Cruz, you’ll find Juan giving masterclasses all over Bolivia and bringing together interesting wines from all of Bolivia’s wine regions in engaging tastings with his company SommMasterClass. You can follow his wine adventures on Instagram.

 

 

More details on our tasting panel around South America coming soon!

You can read about our policy on samples, wineries and advertisements on this link.

The Squeeze Magazine, an online guide to wine and travel in Chile and ArgentinaThe South America Wine Guide wouldn’t be where it is today without the help of Pablo Ortiz, Ana Luisa Ortega Juarez, Lara Colvin, Maria Belen Gil, Dana Fernandez, Majo Peroni, Peter Cubillos, Emi Velazquez and many other friends, colleagues, interns and writers over the years. It was originally called The Squeeze Magazine which offered the first app for discovering South American wineries and later migrated over to become a mobile-friendly digital resource for wine lovers, travellers, trade and wine students.

Thank you to everyone who has been part of the team and continues to support the South America Wine Guide and – its original incarnation – the Squeeze Magazine. Most especially, thank you to our readers and your continued interest in South American wine and travel. 

 

Do you want to be part of the most innovative Latin American wine guide? Contact us via social media to discuss writing opportunities, photography, advertising or otherwise (wine recommendations are always welcome!)

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