Walkway up to Casas del Bosque

Good Morning!

I liked this winery so much I went here twice! I was first taken to this Casablanca winery by my interpreter Dani when I was not yet working and the time was so memorable, When my family came to join me and we were visiting many areas of Chile, I took them to this winery and vineyards.

The first thing that struck me about this vineyard was it’s location, we were driving through a very clean, small town and all of a sudden vines popped up and we were at their vineyard and winery of Casas del Bosque. Once we we arrived the buildings were stark white with brownish, red tiles on the roof. It had a long, wide tiled walkway up to the greeting area and once in that area you could go right and see the production area or turn left and you had the tasting room, store and an very upscale restaurant.

So first thing, I was introduced to a young guide who spoke English and his name was Raio, if I am spelling this correctly. He took me over to the vineyard and told me all about bio dynamic farming and how they strive to be an organic vineyard. then we headed into the winery and it was spotless. It was calm, quiet and so clean. We discussed how long the winery had been organic, how many wines they made and the benefits of making wine in that way and how much wine they made etc.

We walked over to the tasting room and it is set up like a huge formal dinning table in a really cool glass encased room. So it looks really high end but the feeling is young and high energy. The table was full of people except for my spot and all I could hear was Chilean Spanish being spoken. The other guide was speaking in Spanish and Raio said to me I will speak in English for you and the entire table looked at me and started to laugh, and then they said, that is great we are from Ohio and can barely understand what he is saying! So that worked out perfectly!

On the table in front of me were 5 glasses and a booklet called Descriptores Aromaticos, it was like a pamphlet, that was folded up in 8 sections and each section had the name of a wine (grape) at the top and under it were all the objects you might recognize if you were tasting that wine. Each also had a picture of the wine itself and if they made more than one of that varietal they showed each label so you could make the mental connection. So on the page with Chardonnay under the label art you would see pictures of mango, apples, bananas, pineapple, peaches and under the Pinot Noir labels you saw mushrooms, vanilla, almonds etc… they had created this for anyone to understand for all eight of their grape varieties. This was really helpful to everyone tasting because speaking in another language is tricky and trying to describe the wines became much easier for everyone.

I tried a total of 8 wines including 3 reserves and I fell in love with 2 of the wines. I loved the Chardonnay and the Carmenere. Last year I fell in love with unoaked chardonnay after trying the wines made by Cindy Cosco the winemaker of Passaggio Wines in Napa, California. Since then, it is really hard for me to enjoy the Chardonnays that have spent much time in those famous french barrels. But in Chile, or at least what I experienced is no winemakers are using oak with whites and the Chardonnays are so clean, crisp and refreshing without becoming tart or tangy, very balanced and elegantly floral.

The Carmenere was really smooth. It was big, bold, balanced and smooth. I had tried a few Carmenere’s before going to Chile but I was going to get a full baptism in Carmenere tastings over my time in the their country and I have grown to really love the beauty of the powerful little grape! So I bought a bottle of each!

Next my guide Dani and I headed in to restaurant and we were treated like queens with lunch and many wines to pair every course with. It was a beautiful meal, perfect parings and by the time dessert arrived I was smiling ear to ear!

Now let me fast forward to my second trip to Casablanca. After the harvest was over and I was done working my apprenticeship, my family came to join me in visiting the country. When we were driving through Casablanca and I saw the sign for Casas del Bosque, I wanted them to try these wines and they were equally impressed. They ended up purchasing several bottles of Syrah and Sauvingnon Blanc. (In a future blog I will tell you how I ended up getting all these beautiful wines home).

Their grounds and vineyards are a true show place, the food was AWESOME and the wines are impressive without costing an arm and leg. They have English speaking guides too!

One of the 6 wineries in Casablanca I visited but the only one I went to twice!

Have a great weekend, have some wine and let me know what you had, what did you serve with it, who you were with and how did you like it….I guarantee you will remember more about the experience than you will about how the wine tastes! Have FUN!

Much LOVE and wine,

Tammi

One of the views in Chile