Wines Of Chile Appoints New Global Commercial Director

Trained sommelier and qualified lawyer Julio Alonso Ducci has been appointed global commercial director for Wines of Chile, starting this month.

Based in New York – where he moved to with his wife and twin sons in late-summer 2019 – Alonso will oversee Wines of Chile’s commercial strategy spanning the Americas, with a particular focus on Brazil, as well as Asia and Europe. He has been tasked with the long term aims of raising Chile’s premium and sustainable credentials. Alonso brings more than a decade of experience across Asia, North America and the wider world of export promotion, having previously led Wines of Chile operations in China, Asia and North America. During his tenure in China and Asia between 2014 and 2019, Chilean bottled wine exports to China increased 191% in volume and 236% in value (FOB). By 2019, Chile ranked second by value after France, with more than 70 wineries actively offering fine and super-premium wines. Exports of fine Chilean wines priced above US$400 FOB per 9L case expanded from 2,498 cases in 2015 to nearly 20,000 cases by 2020. After relocating to the US, Alonso led Wines of Chile’s North American operations through a challenging post-pandemic period. Between 2020 and 2023, Chile increased its average FOB price per case from US$31 to US$34, while achieving 2.5% growth in total wine depletions in the US. In 2025 alone, Wines of Chile delivered a programme of trade and consumer initiatives across the USA, Canada and Mexico engaging 2,300 participants and generating an estimated US$20 million in media value. Commenting on his appointment, Alonso said that Chile “has genuinely powerful credentials at a time when market dynamics are constantly shifting,” adding that his challenge is “to bring renewed focus to Chile through wine as a driver of culture and legacy, and to translate that into strong, sustainable commercial support for our members.” Alonso was born in Santiago and is an MBA graduate and trained sommelier, as well as qualified lawyer, who worked for six years in private practice before serving in the Chilean Ministry of Economy as a legislative advisor helping modernise laws to nurture small and medium-sized businesses. He also held the position of trade commissioner of Chile in Shanghai, and in 2014, Alonso established the Wines of Chile (WOC) Asia office, primarily focusing on China, with secondary markets in Korea and Japan. Since 2020, Alonso has been responsible for North America at Wines of Chile, based in New York. He took the top position at the organisation on 5 January this year, replacing former commercial director Angélica Valenzuela.

Commenting on Wines of Chile, Alonso recorded that the membership accounts for over 75% percent of Chile’s bottled wine exports, and consists of “four constituencies, each with its own set of different realities.”

According to Alonso, these are:

1. The country’s four or five larger wine producers;
2. Mid-size wineries looking to expand off-premise distribution;
3. Boutique producers of high-end wines seeking the attention of sommeliers at top restaurants;
4. Small family operations in search of U.S. importers.

Such diversity, is, in Alonso's view, WOC’s greatest asset.