Eduardo Chadwick began his wine career in 1983, aged 23. Following his graduation from the Universidad Católica de Chile with an MS in Industrial Engineering, Eduardo joined his father Alfonso Chadwick Errázuriz at the family owned Viña Errázuriz. Eduardo is now the sixth generation to own and run Viña Errázuriz, which was founded by Don Maximiano Errázuriz in 1870. Back in 1983, as he began to learn from his father the skills of viticulture and winemaking, Eduardo started to see the true potential in Chile for fine wines.

In 1985 Eduardo visited Vinexpo in Bordeaux. Such was the impression made on the young Eduardo by what he saw of French winemaking that he remained in the region after the fair, and took Oenology courses at the Institute of Bordeaux. This trip inspired a love of travel and a desire to learn more about fine winemaking. Visits to Burgundy, Napa, Tuscany and a long list of famous regions around the world soon followed that would inspire and influence the way in which wine has come to be made at Errázuriz. Such is his enthusiasm, travel has become routine for Eduardo and the Errázuriz technical team, all of whom annually visit other fine wine regions as a way of refining their winemaking skills.

From 1985 through to the early nineties, Eduardo concentrated on incorporating new viticulture practices and sourcing modern winemaking equipment for his winery. He developed Don Maximiano Founder’s Reserve, the first ultra-premium wine from Viña Errázuriz. For this super premium wine fruit from only the best hillside vineyards of the flagship Don Maximiano Estate was used. He also began expanding the Viña Errázuriz vineyards in the Aconcagua Valley and experimenting with new clones and new varieties such as Shiraz and Sangiovese. Eduardo acquired a new property in the Casablanca Valley called “La Escultura” from which high quality Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir wines are produced.

Alfonso Chadwick Errázuriz passed away in 1993 and Eduardo became President of Viña Errázuriz. His remit was to continue his father’s legacy, sharing as he does his father’s passion for wine and the pursuit of excellence.

In 1994, Eduardo, together with Maison Louis Jadot in Burgundy, created Hatch Mansfield Agencies in the United Kingdom to distribute Viña Errázuriz and other fine wines. He remains the Chairman to this day. That same year Eduardo became the Director of the Chilean Wine Export Association based in Santiago, Chile. He continues to be an active promoter of Chilean wines throughout the world.

In 1995, Eduardo formed a partnership with Robert Mondavi and his Napa family in California with the desire of creating a Chilean wine to rival the world’s top wines. Seña was launched in January 1997. Today, under his sole ownership, Eduardo is converting the Seña vineyard into a biodynamic estate to enhance the true “terroir” of this elite wine. The joint venture also produced the super premium Arboleda wines and the Caliterra range, from a number of Chilean appellations, now marketed worldwide.

Eduardo is extremely interested in wine education and particularly in illustrating Chile’s growing reputation for fine wines. To this end, Viña Errázuriz became a Principal Supporter of the Institute of Masters of Wine in 1999 and continues to lend its support to the organisation. The Institute exists to promote the highest level of educational achievement in the wine industry worldwide, a philosophy Eduardo shares, and actively promotes.

In 2002 Eduardo introduced the first Viñedo Chadwick wine, releasing the 1999 vintage. This is an Ultrapremium red wine named in honour of his father Don Alfonso Chadwick. This wine comes from the Chadwick’s home vineyard, an historical landmark and quality terroir within the Alto Maipo Valley, which was once a polo field on which Don Alfonso played his beloved sport.

In 2003, Eduardo was invited to give the Wine and Spirits Education Trust annual lecture in London. The Trust is devoted to educating and promoting wine culture. The theme of the lecture was “Chile a success story, but where do we go from here?”

An historic event took place in Berlin, January 2004. As part of a blind tasting of first growth wines from French and Italian classic appellations with the best of Errázuriz wines, Eduardo presented his 2000 and 2001 icon wines Viñedo Chadwick, Seña and Don Maximiano Founder’s Reserve. The three wines eclipsed famous houses such as Château Lafite, Château Margaux, Château Latour and Italian cult wines Tignanello, Sassicaia, Solaia and Guado al Tasso as decided by the blind tasting, conducted by Steven Spurrier and comprising of some of Europe’s most esteemed wine journalists, writers and buyers. Viñedo Chadwick 2000 and Seña 2001 were placed first and second respectively in what Jancis Robinson recognized as a milestone for the Chilean wine industry, now known simply as the “Berlin Tasting”.

In July 2005, Decanter magazine recognized Eduardo among the fifty most influential personalities of the wine industry and Viña Errázuriz was described as the quality benchmark from Chile.

In December 2005, Eduardo was invited to become a member of the “Confrérie of the Wine Industry Merit”, a society formed in 1983 by a group of select winemakers, professors and distinguished personalities of the Chilean wine industry, to look after the authenticity, quality and image of Chilean wine. After more than a decade this prominent organisation is seen as the ethical trust for Chilean winemaking.

Eduardo and his wife Maria Eugenia married in 1987. They live in Santiago and have four daughters. When not in the winery or chasing around the world, Eduardo enjoys playing tennis, skiing and mountain climbing. He recently scaled Mount Aconcagua which at 6,962 meters is the highest peak of the Occident. The gullies feed fresh water down to the Don Maximiano vineyards themselves.