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.
Originally from Bordeaux, Sauvignon, or Sauvignon Blanc, is reputed to be one of the best French grape varieties for white wine. It is a white grape variety, not to be confused with Sauvignon Gris and its pale yellow color, or with Cabernet Sauvignon which produces red wines. Particularly famous thanks to Sancerre, Sauvignon Blanc is cultivated as far as New Zealand, where it produces great wines whose reputation is well established.
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 three ways to prepare chinese noodles, quiche without eggs or fish, spinach and goat cheese turnovers.
Several fine wine auctions have been organised by the members of the trade in support of emergency relief efforts and humanitarian aid for people affected by war in Ukraine. One auction organised by private member club Crurated brought together more than 250 bottles from coveted producers. It included top names in Burgundy, Champagne and Italy, such as Louis Roederer (Cristal), Domaine Meo-Camuzet, Domaine Dujac and Bartolo Mascarello. Running from 14 to 20 March, a spokesperson told Decanter th ...
St Hilaire is the patron saint of Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, the pretty Champagne village which is famous for scoring 99 on the Echelle des Crus. (This classification of Champagne vineyards was developed in the mid-20th century as a means of setting the price of grapes grown through the villages of the Champagne wine region.) Prime territory That the village missed out on grand cru status by one point is generally agreed to be an injustice – all the more so as it is home not only to the superlative Clos de ...
It’s no easy task to establish a super-premium wine in an entirely new region, particularly when inviting potential retail partners or distributors to the vineyard involves journeying to a distant corner of the Himalayas in the outer reaches of the Yunnan province, southwestern China. For my journey, after four flights from Bordeaux to Shanghai, Chengdu then Shangri-La, it was a four-hour drive up through stunning mountain passes to the foothills (here, that means 2,200m above sea level) of the ...
