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.
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 shrimp with curry express, quiche without pastry, courgette and blue cheese or goat cheese and spinach lasagne.
In the second part of this series, Decanter’s editorial team members highlight the wines they are looking forward to tasting at the upcoming Decanter Fine Wine Encounter NYC on Saturday 18th June 2022. Tina Gellie – Content Manager and Regional Editor (US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand & South Africa) Burrowing Owl, Cabernet Sauvignon, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada 2019 In 2016, while on a press trip to British Columbia’s Okanagan and Similkameen Valleys, I had the pleasur ...
The Champagne house expanded into the region when it acquired Maison Langlois-Chateau in Saumur back in 1973. It then bolstered its presence in Sancerre with the acquisition of Château de Thauvenay in 2016. Now it has tied up a deal to bring the family-run Hubert Brochard estate into the fold. ‘The acquisition of Hubert Brochard estate represents a unique opportunity to consolidate our footprint in this fantastic region and to continue to promote, in France and internationally, its savoir-faire ...
Following the creation of the DOC Sicilia in November 2011, the region has taken a step further in guaranteeing the origin of traceability of DOC Sicilia wines by introducing mandatory government-minted labels on all its bottles. The State label, which is mandatory only for DOCG wines (in Sicily this applies to Cerasuolo di Vittoria only) is an important marker and identifier of the most important Italian DOCs: each label shows a unique alphanumeric code that traces the entire production process ...
