Top Chef Finale Features Chicago Wine Executive, Wineries Owned by Chicago’s Terlato Wines International

The sixth season of “Top Chef,” Bravo’s Emmy and James Beard Award-winning show, concluded last night after 12 episodes filmed in Las Vegas, and a two-part season finale in Napa Valley.

For the finale, the final chef’testants competed through a series of challenges around the themes of local ingredients, sustainability and world-class wine.

In the end, Michael Voltaggio was crowned Top Chef and recipient of the show’s $125,000 cash prize.

The two wineries selected for the competition, Rutherford Hill and Chimney Rock, are both owned by Chicago-area Terlato Wines International, one of the highest-rated and most recognizable wine brands in the world.

Tony Terlato and Bill Terlato, TWI President and CEO, both make guest appearances.

“Our family owned wineries have one goal: to produce wines with a refinement that makes them ideal partners in gastronomy, so it is especially rewarding to have the top-rated food show select Rutherford Hill and Chimney Rock as the perfect Napa Valley settings,” said Anthony Terlato, Terlato Wine Group Chairman.

Tony hosts a wine tasting for the four chef finalists in the historic, mile-long Rutherford Hill barrel-aging wine caves. Bill Terlato is the first wine company executive to participate as a guest judge on the program.

“I offered a slightly different perspective from the other judges,” said Bill Terlato. “But considering that all of our wines pair well with food, our participation was a good match.” The wines featured in the finale include Terlato Family Vineyards, Rutherford Hill, Chimney Rock and Sanford.

Terlato Wines and the Terlato family has had a presence in the Chicago area for more than 60 years.

“The United States is on the cutting edge of cuisine from around the world, and Chicago is the epicenter,” Bill Terlato said at the Top Chef finale viewing party at the Wit Hotel in Chicago. “When you come to Chicago, you can find the best variety of remarkable cuisine from around the world, and that’s what gives Chicago the leg up.”

The Terlato Family has produced two new Napa Valley wines for Top Chef: Quickfire Napa Valley Chardonnay and Quickfire Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Named for the show’s exciting Quickfire Challenge, where chef’testants compete in fast-paced culinary trials, Quickfire wines are now available at stores across the country.

“What we wanted to make was a great wine that was better than people would expect, and for under $20 so it’s accessible to a broad audience,” Bill Terlato said of the new Quickfire line. “And with the tremendous response we’ve gotten from the testing in California and Illinois, we will be expanding the Quickfire line soon.”

Terlato Wines International has a global portfolio of 50 brands from a host of world class wine producers and presently markets more than one out of eight bottles of wine over $14 sold in America.

Terlato, with more 90+ ratings than any wine company in the world, is the flagship company of the Terlato Wine Group, the parent company of several independent businesses specializing in the marketing and production of exceptional wines.

Owned and operated by the Terlato family, the Group also includes the family’s winery investments and partnerships in some of the world’s most esteemed wine regions, including: Napa Valley; Sonoma County; Santa Barbara County; Victoria, Australia; the Rhône Valley in France; and Montalcino, Italy.