On 15 December 2023, the winners of the first annual VIK Wine LAB Project were selected by a demanding jury comprising national and international figures, who undertook the curatorship of the blends of 26 students from the Agronomy and Winemaking departments at the Universidad de Chile, Universidad Católica, and the Universidad de Talca. “The results were surprising. We were really able to see the young talent and tremendous capacity of these winemakers, who impressed the jury and the industry with the high quality of their winemaking submissions,” said Cristián Vallejo, Head Winemaker at VIK.
Present at the awards ceremony were Alexander and Carrie Vik, founders of the winery, as well as leading officials from the universities and important figures from the winemaking industry.
The final results were revealed after 2 tasting sessions, where the jury was divided into 3 groups, with each group tasting 9 different wines. They then selected the three best examples per table and finally as a group, chose the winners.
Two students from the Universidad de Talca obtained first and second place, respectively: Sebastián Farías and Katherine Cruz. Third place was awarded to a student from the Universidad de Chile, Katherine Cortés.