Casas del Bosque

Casablanca Valley, Chile For many years, Juan Cuneo Solari, the son of an Italian immigrant, dreamed of having his own vineyards to produce the best quality wines. At a time when the Chilean wine industry was pursuing quantity over quality, Mr. Cuneo sought special features and distinctive qualities for a Premium Wine production. In 1993, he finally founded his winery in the Casablanca Valley, Casas del Bosque. He was one of the first to use the area for this purpose. Since then, the valley has seen a boom in popularity, and Casas del Bosque has become one of the few family wineries of the valley. Casas del Bosque is located 70 km from Santiago, the capital of Chile, and 30 km from one of the principal ports of Chile, Valparaiso. The great forests of ancient pine and olive plants and the small, abandoned white adobe houses were the key factors in determining the location of the vineyard and the manor house, giving it the name Casas del Bosque, or “Houses of the Forest.” Casas del Bosque has its own vineyards in the Casablanca Valley. The virtue of having an estate selection guarantees vineyard control from beginning to end. Currently, Casas del Bosque has 232 productive hectares of white vines: Chardonnay, Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc; and red vines: Syrah and Pinot Noir. The ultra premium Carménère and Cabernet Sauvignon red wines come from the Rapel and Maipo valleys. Production levels are kept rather small, as the family chooses to remain a boutique winery.