Casablanca has experienced a great growth in wine in recent years, which has resulted in the creation of appealing tourist circuits, restaurants and wine shops. The valley, located between Santiago and Chile’s major seaport, Valparaiso (recently declared a World Heritage of Humanity site) combines all the conditions to become a “must” for everyone who visits the country.
It is a valley transversal to the Chilean territory. It extends approximately 24 km long from the Zapata Tunnel to the Sanctuary of Lo Vásquez and covers a total of 22,000 hectares. The Casablanca Valley is part of the Coastal Range, a chain of mountain formed 180 million years ago.
Therefore, the valley of Casablanca has positioned itself as the best valley in Chile and abroad for white wines, especially Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay, and among the red wines, the Pinot Noir and cold weather Syrah.
Casablanca characterizes for being a pre-costal valley, located 18 km from the sea, on the costal planes of the region and surrounded by the mountain range of the coast.
It has a clear maritime influence, the climate is mostly cold, and it presents morning fog and a wide thermal range between day and night favoring the slow maturity of the grape. The maritime air enters at midday in the form of cool breezes, and also as mist, large masses of humid air, around dawn. A normal spring day in the valley begins cloudy and slowly clears as the temperature rises and the mist evaporates with the heat. The air that enters is cold due to the Pacific Ocean along the Chilean coast which is influenced by the cold Humboldt Current of Antarctic origin which moderates temperatures.
The summer mean temperature is around 25ºC and the mean annual temperature is 14.4ºC. Rainfalls concentrate between May and October, with an annual average of 450mm; frosts may occur in September and October; from November to April the climate is more or less dry.
The weather characteristics offer us premium quality wines, a higher acidity, a fresher fruit-bearing character, a lower alcoholic degree and a stronger aromatic force which, as a whole, tends to create a specific wine style.
Casablanca has different types of soils with an alluvial origin: loam, sandy, clayish, gravel, soils which are poor in organic matters of little depth where the winegrapes production does not exceed the 12.000 kilos by hectare.
Our Chono and Rayun Reserva Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir come from the sub area of Tapihue in the Casablanca Valley, 25 km from the Pacific Ocean. The influence of the Ocean provides perfect conditions for the production of fresh, aromatic and unique wines.
Soil:
The vineyards, planted in 2000, are located at 250 to 320 masl. They have a flat topography and the soils are deep with heavy textures and high contents of clay and sand and a visible content of quartz. Its natural fertility is very low, as well as the organic matter content of them. The yield were low, 10-12 ton/ha, with a well balanced ripeness, moderate alcoholic degrees, good acidity and aromatic ripeness.
The Pinot Noir vineyards, also planted in 2000, are masal selection (45%) and clone 777 (55%).
