Casas del Bosque Winery, Casablanca, Chile

Last year we travelled through the Casablanca Valley, one of Chile’s World-renowned wine making regions, on the way from Santiago to Valparaiso. Although we enjoyed the beauty of the landscape, with Rich and I not being wine drinkers and there being so many other things to do in the area, on that occasion we decided to give the wineries a miss.

Casablanca Valley

Upon returning home, a friend who works in the wine industry (you know who you are… Amy!) was quick to point out the error of our ways. So, when we were lucky enough to pass through the Casablanca Valley once again this year, we seized the opportunity to correct our scandalous oversight.

Although the Casablanca Valley is an extremely young wine making region (the first grapes weren’t planted there until the mid-1980s), there are dozens of wineries to choose from. With the help of Antonio, our Santiago-based guide from AFIServices, we decided to visit the internationally known, Casas del Bosque.

Casas del Bosque

Cases del Bosque entrance

Cases del Bosque, which means Houses of the Forest, was founded in 1993. It remains one of the few family owned and operated wineries in the Casablanca Valley.

Outdoor tasting area

Laboratory

As you would hope, our tour began out among the vines. Despite having a modest 573 acres under cultivation, Casas del Bosque’s Casablanca Valley vineyard grows three varieties of white grape (Chardonnay, Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc) and two varieties of red grape (Syrah and Pinot Noir).

Vines close to the main building – every area within the vineyard has a unique soil type and micro-climate, each combination suited to a particular grape variety

Down among the vines

Young grapes

From the vines, our tour continued through the fermentation area…

Steel tanks in the fermentation area

…To the bottling section…

One of the bottling lines – can you spot the deliberate mistake?…

What a waste!

Lots and lots of bottles!

If you look carefully, you can see a reflection of Rich taking the photo!

And again

I love colours and depth of field in this photo

…Culminating the Barrel Aging Cellar.

Casas del Bosque use French oak barrels to age their wines

There are quite a few of them

As you can imagine, the smell in the Barrel Cellar was amazing

Of course, whether or not you drink wine, it would be rude to visit a winery and not at least taste their product. In this regard, Rich and Sue were more than happy to be courteous!

The 242 Tasting Room at Casas del Bosque

Arty shot of wine glasses and reflections… but there’s something missing…

… That’s better!

I don’t drink myself, but the aromas were wonderful!

This post was inspired by the photo theme of  Happy from Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge, Bottle from Jennifer Nichole Wells, and Reflective Surfaces from Nancy Merrill.

Feeling happy with Sue and Rich at Casas del Bosque

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