CASABLANCA

Casablanca Valley

Región de Valparaiso
Central Coast

The Casablanca and San Antonio valleys are often compared to California's Sonoma and the Russian River valleys. Although they are neighbors, their wines and wineries could not be any more different. Casablanca focuses on Ruta 68, connecting the road from Viña del Mar and Valparaiso to Santiago. Until recently, the region was mostly used by dairy farms. Winemaker Pablo Morande saw parallels in it with the Carneros region of California, and in 1982 he planted 20 hectares (49 acres) of Chardonnay, Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc. His hypothesis was proved right: Today, Casablanca is considered the greatest discovery in the wine producing valleys of the modern winemaking era, producing most of the white wines of Chile and some Pinot Noirs. The Casablanca Valley is known for its wine tasting facilities, ability to manage high volumes of visitors, and a couple of classy restaurants. Many visitors stop here en route to Viña del Mar or Valparaiso. San Antonio is the newest, smallest and most talked about designation of origin of wine in Chile, with only four boutique wineries that focus on quality, not quantity, the production of the best quality wines from pinot, sauvignon blanc and syrah in Chile can be found here. An unforgettable trip in this town would also include a visit to the Pablo Neruda museum in Isla Negra. Casas del Bosque, was founded in 1993 by Chilean businessman Juan Cuneo Solari, it has a winery only 12 miles from the Pacific ocean, and is widely acclaimed for its delicious, crisp Sauvignon Blanc and also for its Chardonnay. Although the house specialty is the white wine, the vineyard was the first in the field to include merlot in their strains grown, with excellent results. Also in its red wine repertoire, is Syrah, which is very fresh spicy and well worth a sip.