Casablanca Valley is a wine-growing region of Chile, located 100 kilometers (60 miles) North-west of the country's capital, Santiago. The east-west-oriented valley is roughly 30km (20 miles) Long, stretching to the eastern border of the Valparaiso province. It is best known for its crisp white wines, most notably made from the Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay grape varieties which have gained it recognition as one of Chile's quality wine regions. It has attracted considerable investment from wine companies based in other Chilean regions who were looking to boost their white wine portfolio, and from abroad.
Pinot Noir, which is responsive to the cooler Climates found in this coastal area, is also grown with some success.
The region is relatively New by Chilean standards. Casablanca Valley's first Vineyards were planted in the 1980s during the revitalization of the Chilean wine industry. Expansion of vineyards around the industrial town of Casablanca followed, and vines now dominate the valley's landscape, even if a lack of water for irrigation (and restrictive local laws relating to this) have delayed vineyard planting.
Because it is only 30km (20 miles) from the Pacific Ocean at its furthest point, Casablanca Valley is strongly influenced by the cooling effects of the Humboldt Current, which flows up the west coast of Chile from the Antarctic. Cooling afternoon breezes blow from the ocean towards the mountains in the east, Filling the vacuum created by Warm air rising in the east. The reverse winds in the evening, however, are not sufficiently strong to provide a cool finish to Casablanca days.
Given the valley's location at 33°S (much closer to the Equator than any European vineyard), viticulture here is possible largely because of the oceanic influence, which brings cool morning fog and greater cloud cover than is found elsewhere in the north of Chile.
Pinot Gris is a grey grape variety mutated from Pinot Noir. It has its origins in Burgundy, where it is called pinot-beurot in reference to the colour of the grey robes worn by the monks of the region. Established in Alsace since the 17th century, pinot gris was called tokay until 2007. It is made up of bunches of small berries that vary in colour from pink to blue-grey. It is particularly well suited to the continental climate because it is resistant to the cold in winter and to spring frosts. This variety also likes dry limestone soils with plenty of sunshine in the summer. Pinot Gris is well suited to late harvesting or to the selection of noble grapes, depending on the year and the concentration of sugars in the berries. Pinot Gris wines are distinguished by their aromatic complexity of white fruits, mushrooms, honey, vanilla, cinnamon, etc., and their great finesse. In the Loire Valley, pinot gris is used in the Coteaux-d'Ancenis appellations. It gives dry or sweet wines with pear and peach aromas.
white wines from the region of Casablanca Valley go well with generally quite well with dishes of shellfish, vegetarian or goat cheese such as recipes of seafood risotto, tuna, pepper and tomato quiche or léa's salad.
On the nose in the region of Casablanca Valley often reveals types of flavors of citrus, microbio or lemon peel and sometimes also flavors of nectarine, dried fruit or floral. In the mouth in the region of Casablanca Valley is a powerful.
The week-long trip into one of France’s most exciting appellations with closed-door access to some of the most revered vineyards and their cellars will be going ahead this June. Walls has curated a trip to highlight the very best the Rhône has to offer – a 360 trip that encompasses great food, delicious wine, sightseeing and downtime – where he’ll be imparting his expert knowledge of the region, honed over the years. Download trip brochure Trip Highlights Include: Meeting some of the greatest ...
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Moneypenny, James Bond, Q. Not a bad trio for your wine to share the screen with in its latest cameo. I’ll try not to give too many spoilers if you haven’t yet seen No Time To Die, but I don’t think it gives too much away to say that Bond can’t resist swiping two generous glasses of Château Angélus (2005, although you don’t see the vintage on screen) for himself and Moneypenny from a bottle that Q had carefully opened for his date later that night. This is the third Bond film in which Angélus ha ...
