This was our day in the Casablanca Valley, to the northwest of Santiago and in the middle of the coastal range of mountains. Here the influence of the Pacific’s Humboldt current is clear, with misty mornings and the occasional cloudy day (in our case it was such an occasion). These cooler conditions make for a longer growing season, and suit varieties such as Pinot Noir, Syrah and aromatic whites, though Chardonnay is very successful here (Domaine Chandon was one of the first major players to establish themselves here).
Our first visit was to Villard, a family owned and run winery. We met the founders, Thierry and Pauline, and their son Jean-Charles, who is now the winemaker. Charlie, as he is known, gave us a fabulous tour of their carefully designed winery, and explained that his brother is also involved in the business and in the joint venture they own with a Bordelais cooper to import staves and make barrels in Santiago, supplying the whole of South America. Their winery is very small scale, one of the original ‘boutique’ wineries in Chile, and a founder member of MOVI (Movimiento de Viñateros Independientes).
Their granitic soils are poor, and for those of us who have studied at WSET it was a revelation when Charlie explained that they are now having to abandon vineyards on slopes as the soil is so poor and the water (that they draw from a well, there being no rivers in the Casablanca Valley) drains away so quickly it is hard to keep vines healthy. Plus the hillier sites are handier for the rabbits who are becoming a major pest in the valley. They still have flatter sites with deeper soils to plant, so this is not a disaster for them, but it confirmed that the Casablanca Valley despite its proximity to the ocean is one of the most water challenged regions of Chile.
Our tasting on their terrace was wonderful, taking in their Expresion and ‘Le Grand Vin’ ranges, their icon wine Tanagra – Syrah very much in the Northern Rhone style with great elegance, and finally a Grenache that Charlie makes under his own label JCV. With some tapas and some great conversation it was a great end to a great morning, made all the better by knowing The Wine Society would be taking delivery of some of the wines we had been tasting!
We then drove further west to Kingston Family Vineyards, another estate originally bought for ranching, which in the 1990s when Courtney Kingston, who was studying at Stanford, wrote the business plan that took them into grape growing, which they now do at scale, with a small winery that makes their own wine for their restaurant and Californian retail business.
After a glass of rosé on the terrace we walked down to the winery, built in 2006, for a brief tour, including inspection of some cold soaking grapes with their winemaker, and a taste of a Syrah from barrel. For WSET nerdy types their stainless steel barrels were an interesting addition to our mental collections of wine ageing vessels.
Back in their restaurant, Tim having rejected the rather windy terrace option, still with panoramic views across the valley, we enjoyed a fabulous tasting lunch with paired wines – so many choices I’m just including a photo of the menu! Alberto, who had escorted our tour was a charming host, and Courtney chatted to us as we enjoyed the delicious food and very good wines.
We thanked the lovely team who had served us and made our way back onto the bus.
A somewhat cooler day meant we weren’t quite so wiped out, though I doubt many of us went out to eat in the evening, a shame, because Santiago is filled with very tempting restaurants of just about every cuisine possible!
