This year’s Great Wines of the Andes USA finished with a bang in Miami with close to 800 people turning out to taste hundreds of wines and meet dozens of wine producers at EAST hotel on October 5. “Miami loves great wines and it loves great values, which is exactly what the wines of the Andes are,’ said James Suckling, editor and CEO of JamesSucking.com, organizers of the event. Suckling emphasized at the event that the outstanding quality wines of Chile, Argentina and Uruguay are exceptional values in the wine world today; consumers and trade need to pay two or three times the price for wines from other countries to receive the same quality in the bottle.

The message was the same in the other two cities, New York and San Francisco, the first stops in the country-wide tasting tour, which began on September 30. Suckling and a group of close to 150 wineries attended the four-hour tasting events. Suckling’s close friend Surahn Sidhu, the award-winning Australian recording artist, provided a sleek mix of Cuban funk and regional music to complement the events. A guitarist, bassist and vocalist for Empire of the Sun in the past, Sidhu is often on tours across the globe and just started his own new band in Australia.

With such a strong vibe and great wines, Great Wines of the Andes USA 2018 was the biggest event ever for the five-year-old walk-around tasting. Check out the video of the event and photos below.

Great Wines of the Andes San Francisco:

Around 700 people attended the Great Wines of the Andes 2018 event on Sunday, Sept. 30.
Andres Blanchard and Javier Catena, joint partners of Cuarto Dominio, poured their wines across all three cities this year.
Argentine wines keep attracting more and more crowds in San Francisco.
Aurelio Montes Jr. explains the intricacies of Montes wines to some attendees in San Francisco.
Claudia Benegas pours the wines, Don Tiburcio was one of the discoveries for locals who attended the event.
Eduardo Chadwick, Agustin Francisco Huneeus and Rodrigo Soto catching up at the San Francisco event.
James chats with Rob Mondavi Jr. in San Francisco.
A wide-angle shot captures another full Great Wines event in San Francisco.
Laura Catena pours her wines to wine lovers in San Francisco.
Los Vascos and Bodegas Caro, Domaines Barons de Rothschild's projects in the Andes, were only present in San Francisco, treating the locals there to their coveted wines.
Matias Ciciani poured Escorihuela Gascon in all three cities.
San Francisco loves the wines of the Andes: 700 wine lovers and trade professionals packed into the Golden Gate Club on Sunday, Sept. 30, 2018.
Mele Sosa poured the wines of Bodega Garzon once again in San Francisco, confirming their reputation as Uruguay's best producer if crowd excitement is anything to go by!
Piero Incisa della Rocchetta poured a number of pinot noirs from Bodega Chacra in Patagonia.
JamesSuckling.com proudly supports Sea Shepherd, always present at our events to share and explain their mission protecting the environment.
Bodega Garzon were flying the Uruguayan flag as the only winery present from the South American country.

Great Wines of the Andes New York:

Alfredo Frigeiro pours Los Toneles for the first time at our event to the crowd in New York City.
Diego Surazsky presented the wines of Norton to a full house in New York City.
Baptiste Cuvelier from Cuvelier de los Andes pours their Malbec to the New York crowd.
The IAC building in Manhattan was packed out for the Great Wines of the Andes 2018 edition.
Gaston Williams of Vik explains the beauty of the Cachapoal's wines.
German de Cesare joined us only in New York to pour Trivento's wines.
Gustavo Hormann, Kaiken's winemaker, joined us on the whole tour.
James mingles with the 800 people who packed out the IAC building in NYC.
Javier Catena pours the wines of Cuarto Dominio in NYC.
Jorge Dehese pours the wines of Nina, the only winery at the event from Argentina's La Rioja.
Matetic joined Great Wines of the Andes New York City for the first time this year, attracting those with a curious palate.
New Yorkers love the wines of the Andes!
Ramiro Barrios with Michel Rolland's wines Clos de los Siete, one of the newcomers to our New York City edition.
Ricardo Arrambide was present for the NYC edition, representing Flecha de los Andes.
The diversity of wines that the Andes produce kept everyone busy in discovery throughout the event.
Veronique Bonnie Laplane pours Diamandes, one of the best values from Argentina's Valle de Uco.
The official Andes guidebook was well received by attendees.

Great Wines of the Andes Miami:

The Crush, the 39th-floor ballroom of East hotel in Miami, was packed with people savoring Chilean wines as well as Surahn Sidhu's music.
The 100-point acclaimed Clos Apalta was the only perfect wine featured at the event this year in all three cities.
Surahn Sidhu's music gave set a special ambience to the event.
Nicolas Montovano and Carolina Graziano were in Miami to pour Rutini's wines.
The Miami crowd is always enthusiastic about our event, keen to take detailed notes in our official event guidebook.
The Miami crowd is always happy to have our popular Andes event back in town.
The Miami crowd is always a big fan of the Great Wines of the Andes event and is looking forward to our next Italy event in March.
Leandro Lowi pours for Zuccardi in Miami, the only city where Zuccardi was present.
James greets the enthusiastic crowd in Miami.
Italo Jofre and Isabel Giulisasti pouring the famous Don Melchor wine in Miami.
Gabriel Baigorria from Mi Terruno attends the Miami event.
Dennis Koelewijn pours the wines of Pyros and Salentein, which were only on pour in Miami.
Danielle Thompson represented Almaviva, one of the most popular wines at the tasting.
Hector Durigutti pours his malbec at East, Miami.
Chris O'Donnell, Michel Couttlolenc and Berenice Maulhardt toasted to another great edition of Great Wines of the Andes Miami.
Agustina Briuzela pours Mascota wines to some eager Miami attendees.
Charles de Bournet and Albert Somoza were busy pouring Lapostolle and Clos Apalta all evening.
Andrea Ferreira from La Celia wines was present in Miami.

Video Recap:

Presenting Wineries:

Abremundos, Achaval-Ferrer, Alamos, Albarossa, Almaviva, Alta Vista, Altocedro, Anko, Aresti, Aromo, Belasco de Baquedano, Benegas, Bisquertt, Bodega Chacra, Bodega Cuarto Dominio, Bodega del Desierto, Bodega Diamandes, Bodega Estancia Mendoza, Bodega Garzón, Bodega Norton, Bodega Piedra Negra, Bodega Rolland, Bodegas Etchart, Casas del Bosque, Catena Zapata, Clos Apalta, Clos de los Siete, Colomé, Concha y Toro, Cono Sur, Cousiño-Macul, Cuvelier Los Andes, Decero, Durigutti, Domaine Bousquet, El Enemigo, El Esteco, Emiliana, Ernesto Catena Vineyards, Errázuriz, Escorihuela Gascon, Estancia, Los Cardones, Famiglia Bianchi, Familia Schroeder, Felipe Staiti, Finca El Origen, Flechas de Los Andes, Fabre Montmayou, Fuego Blanco, Hacienda Araucano, Kaiken, Kauzo, Kingston Family Vineyards, Lagarde, La Celia, La Junta, Lamadrid, Lapostolle, Leyda, Los Vascos, Los Toneles, Luca, La Posta, Luigi Bosca, Marcelo Pelleriti, Masi Tupungato, Matetic, Mascota Vineyards, Montes, Monteviejo, Morandé, Nieto, Senetiner, Neyen de Apalta, Nina San Huberto, Odfjell, Pascual Toso, Piattelli Vineyards, Polkura, Proemio Wines, Pulenta, Quara, Rutini, Salentein, San Pedro, Santa Carolina, Santa Rita, Seña, Serca, Siegel, Sophenia, Susana Balbo Wines, Tapiz, Terrazas de los Andes, Tinto Negro, Trapiche, Tringario, Trivento, Valdivieso, Ventisquero, Vicentin, Vik, Viña Casablanca, Viña Cobos, Viña Marty, Viña Tarapacá, Viu Manent, Zuccardi

Strong Vibe at Great Wines of the Andes USA 2018

Great Wines of the Andes San Francisco:

Great Wines of the Andes New York:

Great Wines of the Andes Miami:

Video Recap: