Regions and soils: Casablanca and San Antonio

Although both zones are coastal and, politically speaking, belong to the Aconcagua Valley, Casablanca and San Antonio—the two largest sources of cold-climate whites in Chile—are different in various aspects. Casablanca’s vineyards are cooled to winkler Region I by cool morning fogs, the result of the Pacific’s icy Humboldt current (which has a similar effect thousands of miles up the coast in California). Frequent cloud slows ripening and reduces the average number of clear days per year to 180, as opposed to between 240 and 300 in the interior. Spring frosts are a real hazard here but specialist grape growers and most of the big companies have planted varieties such as Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir extensively since the region’s beginnings in the early 1980s. Casablanca runs from east to west, which means it is a transversal valley in which the easternmost zones—those furthest from oceanic influence—are warmer. There can be more than a month’s difference in harvest dates between eastern Casablanca (also known as Upper or Alto Casablanca) and the western zone (Lower or Bajo Casablanca). Soils vary enormously although they generally tend to be sandy in Alto Casablanca and are increasingly granitic with a higher clay content with proximity to the coast.