HMS Manchester on the wine trail

On the 16th and 17th of June 2009, winetoursvalparaiso were delighted and proud to have had the opportunity of taking a group of petty officers and gunnery sargents from The Royal Navy´s HMS Manchester on a wine tour in the Casablanca valley.



The group on the 16th was made up of 26 people and the group on the 17th was comprised of 20. On both days we did a tour which consisted of the following itinerary;

9:00am Pick up
10:00 William Cole vineyard tour and tasting
12:00 Emiliana organic vineyard tour and tasting
13:00 Lunch at vineyard Indomita
16:00 The Vinoteca wine store and tasting







With a group of sailers who had been away from home for a while with a great need of getting rid of tentions and letting their hair down, the tour became a mix of cultural interest and a stag night rolled into one. The most important thing is that apart from learning about winemaking aspects such as toasted barrells, tannings and how Rose is actually made, they had a very good laugh and memerable time, which is what a wine tour with winetoursvalparaiso is all about.







Both groups bought lots of wine, which they thought was fantastic compared to what they had picked up in the Falklands. They were impressed by the Sauvignon blanc from William cole and the William Cole Carmeneré. They also took advantage of special offers in the vineyard on William Cole Rosé and a 2004 Merlot which was very nice and at its peak. At Emiliana organic winery they were grabbed by the Sauvignon Blanc Adobe, the Chardonnay Viogner Marsan Novas blend and the magnificent Coyam blend. At Indomita the Chardonnay varietel was well recieved as well as the Zardos special reserve.





I met the guys from the group on the 16th in the evening to take them to a few bars i know in Valparaiso and on the 17th i was invited up to the mes to savour the mes bar which was rather like a cricket club bar on the village green.

As a huge gesture the guys invited me, my son Max and Matt from corrugated city on board for a fabulous 3 hour tour of the ship and supplied us with expat rations of sausages, bacon and tea.

It was a great 2 days and one of the highlights of winetoursvalparaisos story. I hope to see the guys in this part of the world again for some great wine and a good time.

Corrugated City: Wine. Grapes. Vineyard Tours. Casablanca Valley. Chile.

Corrugated City: Wine. Grapes. Vineyard Tours. Casablanca Valley. Chile.

Wine. Grapes. Vineyard Tours. Casablanca Valley. Chile.

One of the best blogs on the internet regarding Valparaiso Chile has made an entry which mentions winetoursalparaiso and the Casablanca valley.

Corrugated City run by the property management company Pacific Five trie to promote all the wonderous things in Valparaiso so as to encorouge more people to stay, live and invest in the city which is only a 40km from Casablanca.

It does so happen that Matt the creator of the Corrugated City blog has worked for winetoursvalparaiso on a part time basis and the entry on blog talks about his evaluation of the vineyards and wine, also a taste of his experiences whilst on the job.

Matt also has some wine investment and consultancy projects developing in the Colchagua valley for more information just browse through his blog.

Casablanca Harvest Festival 2009

Its that time of year again when all the gorgeous grapes are being picked and turned into wonderous wine.

This year Casablanca will celebrate this years grape harvest known as the Vendimia with a special festival held for the first time ever in the Casablanca town square on April 25th 2009.

The day will start at 11:00am with a religious mass followed by the inaugaration of the event. There will be folk music, theatre on the theme of wine and tastings which will end at 22:00.

Transport can be taken from the Valparaiso bus terminal or contact michael@winetoursvalparaiso.cl.

Prince Charles visits Emiliana Organic vineyard in Casablanca Chile

His Royal highness Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales and his wife Camila Parker Bowles, the Duchess of Cornwall made a visit to Emiliana an organic winery in the heart of the central chilean area known as the Casablanca Valley thirty minutes drive from Valparaíso.

The visit to casablanca and this particular vineyard is based on the idea that the Prince who is himself an organic farmer, has decided to take a wine tour and a probable tasting in the 5th region of Chile, in order to learn more about how organic farming is handled in this part of the world.

The Prince will have a chance to meet the owners, who are part of the Concha y Toro winery and the fantastic and iconic winemaker Alvaro Espinoza the main engine behind organic wine production in Chile.

Its great that someone with his statue has come to a valley hardly recognized for it great Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and it was a shame that winetoursvalparaiso did not get a chance to show them both around the valley theres always a next time.

Maybe the Prince will start selling Emiliana wines in his organic shop in Windsor.

Our biggest tour ever

On February 3rd of this year winetoursvalparaiso took on their biggest wine tour to date.

We had various emails from a Mariana McCamy, who had found our website through comments left on a popular cruise ship website and she decided to put together a group of 41 people who were all sailing on the Royal Caribbean around the horn of Chile and Argentina past Patagonia, stopping at various ports including Valparaíso then up to Florida.

With a fully air conditioned 44 seater 2008 bus from JM, this lovely group of people all came with us on a tour which consisted if the following;

A tour around Isla Negra one of 3 homes which belong to the 1971 Nobel prize winning poet Pablo Neruda. Many people in the group who had never heard of Neruda were taken aback by the multitude of interesting objects collected by the eccentric personalty as well as the beach front location.

Then afterwards we had gourmet Lunch in the vineyard Indomita where we enjoyed the food of award winning chef Oscar Tapia. This was then followed by a brief tasting of Indomita wines.

Viña Mar vineyard the only vineyard that produces sparkling wine was the second vineyard on our trip. Guided around the complex by Macarena Martinez one of the best vineyard guide in the valley. The group where given a detailed talk on the winemaking process for red and white wines as well as insights into the production methods of Charmat and Champenoise sparkling wine.

On to a favourite of ours, the William Cole vineyard where the group of 41 were split into 2 groups. One group started with a tasting and then the other commenced with a tour of the vines and the vinification plant then later switched.

With some people nervous about being left behind by the ship we managed to enjoy our time at William Cole and still arrived at the port terminal on schedule.

We don´t know exacctly how much wine was purchased by this group, but it was quite alot and it seems that they all had thoroughly a great time.

Winetoursvalparaiso would like to wish all those who came on the tour, the very best of luck in everything they do and hope to see them again someday.













cruise ships, valparaiso, chile, casablanca, cruise critic, trip adviser,VTP

The Catrala Adventure

If you decide to take a wine tour in the casablanca valley and have a love of botany you should look no further than the tours of vineyard Catrala.

Run by Felip Rodriguez and Alejandra Fantuzzi, who have created a thorough botanical take on the wine tour. They do this by identifying every plant growing around the vines and explaining their origen, viticultural influence and medicinal uses, whilst walking through the enchanting trees and shrubs of the vineyard.

Catrala is essentially a premium vineyard, that cultivates mainly Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir with low cluster yields and concern themselves with quality rather than quantity.

The highlight of a Catrala tour is sitting down in a peaceful woodland area that overlooks the vines and sampling their fine wines in tranquil surroundings, with a selection of locally produced cheeses.

Its always advised to spend a whole afternoon on a tour such as this, so as to fully enjoy the Catrala adventure.



wine, winetours, tours, casablanca, valparaiso, winetoursvalparaiso