Casas Del Toqui
Chile
Grapes are sourced from different locales throughout Chile with an eye toward achieving perfect stability and balance.
The Casas del Toqui was originally founded some twenty-five years ago by the well-respected Château Larose-Trintaudon (Cru Bourgeois, Haut-Médoc) and some local Chilean investors during the period when a number of French investors showed interest in developing Chilean wineries. It was bought by the Court Family of Chile some years ago and has been transformed into one of the country’s leading wineries. Part of Casas del Toqui’s success can be attributed to the fact that the winery is completely echo sustainable. Bottles are ECO friendly, and use less glass that allows for lower energy expenditure when processing. Natural corks are used and a Riles plant (liquid industrial waste) is located on the property. Farming is all organic and sustainable; numerous photovoltaic solar panels were installed in 2017 to make the entire operation more efficient.
The key element in Casas del Toqui wines is balance. Grapes are sourced from different locales throughout Chile with an eye toward achieving perfect stability in both fruit and acid, particularly in their red wines. Most of Casas del Toqui’s vineyards are located in the Alto Cachapoal with additional fruit coming from Alto Maipo (intermediate zone) and Casablanca and Paradones (cold areas) that provide a wide variety of terroirs and fruit characteristics.
These remarkable wines have performed well on the international wine stage and have achieved innumerable outstanding awards and scores.
We're excited to present these two amazing wines to members of our International Wine Club!
Map of the area
The Flag of Chile
Two horizontal bands of white and red with a blue starred square on upper left comprise the Chilean flag. Blue represents the sky; the white represents the snow of the Andes Mountains and the red signifies the blood that was spilled during Chile’s fight for freedom from Spain. The singular star pertains to progress and honors the status of Chile as an independent state. It was adopted in 1818 and is known as La Estrella Solitaria. National Flag Day is held each year on July 9 and commemorates 77 soldiers who died in the 1882 Battle of La Conception. Incidentally, the flag is similar to the Texas State Flag that was adopted in 1839, some 22 years later.
Vincent Johnson - Winemaker
Vicente Johnson studied agronomy at the Universidad Mayor in Chile’s capitol of Santiago and specialized in enology at the Universidad de Chile in the same city. His work experiences included a long-term association with Casas del Bosque, a premium wine producer in Chile’s Casablanca Valley and also a shorter stint with Vina Quintay, a small boutique winery in the same area. Johnson then moved to California where he secured an MBA from Sonoma State University located in Rohnert Park, just south of Santa Rosa.
Cachapoal Valley
The Cachapoal Valley is part of the larger Rapel Valley that is only 50 miles from Santiago. The Rapel Valley is Chile’s agricultural center and produces numerous fruits and vegetables. There is a wide range of temperatures within the Cachapoal Valley that allows different varietals to thrive along with Cabernet Sauvignon. It is located between the northern Maipo Valley and the southern Colchagua Valley to its south and is known for currently producing a number of prestigious wines that were formerly attributed to its more illustrious neighbors.
Chile: Fun Facts!
• Chile is the longest country in the world, some 2,653 miles from North to South
• Known for its Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, the country’s signature grape is actually considered to be Carménère. While indigenous to Bordeaux, the grape grows very well here due to Chile’s long growing season.
• The driest place in the world is located in Chile. It is known as the Atacama Desert. It is said that parts of this desert haven’t received rain in over forty years, and other parts have not received rain since the beginning of recorded history.
• The southern region of Chile has trees over 4,000 years old. They are the Alerce tree species which doesn’t die.
• The country has more than 1300 volcanoes, with as many as 500 considered active.
• Chile is one of the few countries on Earth that has a government-supported UFO research organization.
• Chile is home to one of the world’s oldest mummies. In 5000 BC, the Cinchorro mummy was found in the valley of Camarones. There have been 282 mummies found to date in the country. A UNESCO application for World Heritage Site status may finally get these mummies the attention they deserve.
• The biggest earthquake ever recorded, a magnitude of at least 9.5 on the Richter Scale, hit Valdivia, Chile in 1960 and left more than 1600 people dead. The earth heaved for over 10 minutes, moved the entire country west by about 30 feet, and left about 2,000,000 people homeless.
Colchagua Valley
This beautiful valley is considered Chile’s dream area for wine production. Seventy miles at its widest, it stretches southeast to northwest, the Colchagua Valley is cooler than the Maipo Valley but still offers a Mediterranean climate. Much newer as a top wine-producing area, it is dominated by the Tinguiririca River that brings with it, clear meltwater from the Andean peaks along with silts and clays that form ideal land for vineyards. It had been compared to Napa Valley for its beauty and quality of wines and stands to become Chile’s most important wine producing area for ultra-quality wines.
