And the celebration continues in Chile, where last week 33 miners were rescued after being trapped more than 2,000 feet below the surface for 69 days. When they finally were reunited with their family and friends, all of Chile did what they do best: celebrated with Chilean wine.

In my last column, I explained how the geographically isolated, thin-stripped country is protected by more than 2,500 miles of Pacific coastline on the west, the Andes Mountains to the east, the Atacama Desert to the north and Antarctica in the south. These natural barriers have created such a pristine ecosystem that the vine cuttings brought from Europe more than 400 years ago are thought to be the only remaining phylloxera-free vine specimens that exist in the world today. (This virulent agricultural pest destroyed many famous vineyards in Europe in the late 1800s.)