I think it's safe to say that here at Whitmore & White we are huge fans of the wines of multi award-winning Vina Casa Silva in Chile. Established in 1997 by Mario Pablo Silva and his father and based in the Colchagua Valley, in a very short space of time this family-run estate is projecting outwards to some of the surrounding areas to bring us wine-lovers a very special range of wines.

Who's Behind Casa Silva?

Mario Pablo is the fifth generation from a wine making family, started in 1892 when Emilio Bouchon was first to arrive in the Colchagua Valley from St Emilion in Bordeaux. The rest, as they say is history. Casa Silva has a vision to become leaders in a new generation of premium quality wines, not just in Colchagua, but throughout Chile, whilst keeping to the family tradition and maintaining relationships with the community and environment. The latter to such an extent that the estate has been awarded 100% certification of its vineyard sites under the Wines of Chile Sustainability Code.

A large proportion of its vineyards are organically managed and cellar practices are under constant improvement to match the eco-drive in the vineyards. Furthermore, the estate encourages recycling of its bottles, promotes responsible drinking of its wines and is working hard to reduce carbon footprint.

The Geography

Colchagua Regional Map

Chile as a winemaking country is 8000km long, stretching from the Atacama Desert to the South Pole glaciers. Geographically, Colchagua Valley is in the central part of the country and is composed of three vine growing areas; the Andean, where vines are influenced by the foothills of the Andes, the central valley, which is flat and warmer and the coastal region where the vineyards are influenced by the cool breezes from the Pacific Sea.

There are a number of sub-regions within the Colchagua Valley which Casa Silva use for their vineyards, namely Los Lingues, Lolol, Lago Ranco and Paredones. Los Lingues vineyards are influenced by the Andes mountains, with warm days and cool nights. Essentially a Mediterranean climate. The soils are low in organic matter and of medium fertility, with sand, clay and granite structure, which allows for perfect growing of Chardonnay, Carmenere, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot grapes.

Lolol is situated about 40km from the Pacific coast and consists of small coastal mountain ranges. The temperature is higher during the day than that of Los Lingues but the mornings are cool because of the morning mists. With the alluvial, sandy-loam soil this makes it an excellent region for Syrah and Viognier grapes. Paredones is close by Lolol with vineyards are 6km from the coast.They have grant and clay soils and benefit from cool morning mists and cooler daily temperatures. This combination is perfect for planting of Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc and Sauvignon Gris grapes.

But what about the wines?

Casa Silva Chilean Wine

All of the Casa Silva wines must pass a tasting panel which is composed of Mario Silva (President), Mario Pablo Silva (Managing Director), Gonzalo Silva (Agricultural Director) and Mario Geisse (Technical Director-Winemaker). The wines for the Reserva Range are stunning and certainly punch above their weight. The Gran Terroir (Los Lingues/Angostura) wines are a step up in intensity and complexity The Cool Coast wines are from Paredones.

The Pinot Noir is one of the best value for money Pinots on the market today. The Sauvignon Gris is fresh and lively. The Microterroir Carmenere (from Los Lingues) is produced from a part of their Los Lingues vineyards where the climate/soil/topography ("terroir" essentially) is different enough to produce a small amount of exceptional wine.

Watch this space for a wine dinner evening later in the year in our Heswall store with the wines of Casa Silva and their UK brand ambassador Johnny Bingham. 

Until next time,

Graham