He is not just any guide and he is not just any taster. Marcelo Pino was not chosen as the best sommelier in Chile in 2011 and 2017 in vain, awards that support his privileged palate. Since 2010 he has been devoted to tasting a not so usual product: bottled waters from different brands present in the national market, which he submits to blind analysis.
The launch of his water guide 2024 was this Monday at the W Hotel. On the occasion, he highlighted a couple of recent phenomena: more and more people are choosing not to drink alcohol, due to the so-called responsible consumption, and the robust national and international offer in several restaurants, which reaches more than one hundred water labels.
To put together the ranking, Pino tested 120 water samples and excluded about five for having very low ratings. “It is basically done through visual, olfactory and gustatory analysis, using only the senses,” he explains. For the final part, he looks for clean, sparkling water, ” that gives the sensation of a river in the south of Chile”. Olfactory? As neutral as possible, without aromas of humidity or stagnant water. Taste? Refreshing and balanced.
You’ve been doing this guide for more than a decade, what surprised you this time?
“Diversity. There are many waters focused on gastronomy, with a more ad hoc image of what it is like to go to a good restaurant. I think that helps to improve the water culture in Chile. In Italy, it’s customary to have lunch with water and it’s part of life, it’s not something that you drink by discarding it, as sometimes happens here.
How would you rate Santiago’s drinking water?
“I don’t drink it much. I find that it always has that very strong chlorine smell, a lot of calcium carbonate, which is this sediment that sticks a lot in kettles. I evaluate water from 0 to 100, under 80 I discard it, because it doesn’t qualify, so I would give it a 65. Clearly it wouldn’t be in the guide because of the taste and smell it has, which is very unpleasant. It’s a water that you can drink.
There are people who find the water from Santiago very different from the water from the South, is that true?
The taste does indeed change. I like the water from the south much more, it gives me the sensation of a much fresher, lighter water, it doesn’t have that feeling of heaviness or chlorine. I’m from Pichilemu, I try the water from there, and I like it much better than the water from Santiago, it’s lighter in terms of mineral concentration”.
The water you chose as the best costs $680, but there are others that cost between $2,000 and $3,000 a bottle. Why the difference in price?
“That often has nothing to do with the origin, but with the way you dress the bottle. If it doesn’t come in a plastic bottle, but in a glass bottle with a much more elegant label, it will have a much higher price. There are cases like Evian, Pellegrino or Acqua Panna that are world-renowned and are very focused on gastronomy, so naturally they have a much higher price”.
Food for thought.
“But the truth is that in Chile we have very good waters: very low in mineral content, naturally low in sodium.
It is not just any guide and it is not just any taster. Marcelo Pino was not chosen as Chile’s best sommelier in 2011 and 2017, awards that back up his privileged palate.
