Beginning of May I left Indianapolis via Dallas for Santiago de Chile. While my wife attended her WFOT conference and I prepared to visit vineyards near Santiago because we at Vino LeFebvre need to add wines from Chile to our portfolio. following the advise from my friend Baptiste Cuvelier (of Cuvelier los Andes) I contacted the
"Vina Chocalan" in San Antonio valley, southwest of Santiago. Mrs. Aida Toro H. came by our hotel, pick us up and drove us to the vineyard and winerey located in San Antonio Valley, approx. 30 miles from the Pacific Ocean in the Melipilla province. the vineyard is located almost in a bowl which can be compared to an Amphitheater - having exposures to different directions.
Due to weather this year they were still harvesting Syrah grapes at the time of our arrival. Chocalan built a brand new winery....according to Aida, they designed all the stainless steel tanks and oak barrel storage area's, then went to an architect and told her to built the winery around the production set-up....way to go....from the inside - out!
We spent time in the vineyard then after wards met with winemaker Fernando Epina who treated us for lunch at the winery. the family recently bought another vineyard "Malvilla" located just 3 1/2 miles from the Pacific Ocean. I loved the Rieslings and Gewuerztraminer as well as the Pinot Noir from the Malvilla vineyard.
This is a winery to watch out for in the future!
Later on we drove from Santiago to Casablanca Valley . when we arrived in the valley at 10.00 AM the fog was still settled in , then slowly started to lift. What a wonderful place to visit. After meeting with Anthony Crew in Chicago I was curious to see the vineyard and winery at "
Casas del Bosque". Anthony drove us through the vineyards all the way to the top - the Mirador - the Lookout, where the old tree stand that is part of the labels of their wines.
Afterward we met Grant Phelps, the young energetic new wine maker from New Zealand that is now responsible for the production at Casas del Bosque. We tasted their entire Reserve Line, Grand Reserve wines and my favorite one, the Pequenas Producciones - small production of only 500 cs - Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah and Pinot Noir. Grant told me that they were lucky during the earthquake. One of the big stainless steel tanks fell over, but with portable generators and pumps they were able to save most of their wine and kept their loss to a minimum.
I can't wait to receive their Sauvignon Blanc and introduce it to my customers in Indiana.The winery and vineyard are so beautiful, the lunch at their Restaurant in the winery so good....it was hard to leave but we had plans to move on and visit Valparaiso on the Pacific Ocean later that afternoon.
The third winery I visited was
"Vina Aquitania", in the heart of Maipo "Alto" Valley, on the outskirts of Santiago de Chile. I took the subway down south to a shopping center, then a short ride with a taxi to arrive at the winery. Looking through the gate towards the winery you can see the majestic Andes Mountains rising behind the winery. Sadly, most of
the land surrounding the winery has been sold off and is being used to make suburban modern housing. I guess it's easier to make money that way than working year round to produce excellent wines.
I only had time to taste the SoldeSol Chardonnay and Pinot Noir which tasted like true Burgundian wines - the grapes come all t
he way from down south from Malleco Valley, the southern most wine growing area in Chile. Most amazing to see was the packaging area where bottles were cleaned by hand and labels attached by hand before boxed and then shipped to their customers.
