The city of Valparaíso and the Valle de Casablanca valley have been selected by the Red de Capitales y Grandes Viñedos (Great Wine Capitals Network) as one of the world’s capitals of wine, a select group that includes a dozen wine regions worldwide.
Great Wine Capitals (GWC) is a global network that aims to promote tourism, culture and trade between the world’s wine capitals. The company was founded in 1999 and is composed of the most prestigious wine regions of the world.
From June, the Valparaíso-Casablanca axis will be part of this select group, which also includes Melbourne (Australia), Bordeaux (France), San Francisco and Napa Valley (USA), Porto (Portugal), Bilbao and Rioja (Spain), Cape Town (South Africa), Mendoza (Argentina), Christchurch (New Zealand) and Florence (Italy).
Valle de Casablanca is located 40 miles from the coast of central Chile, 50 minutes by freeway from Santiago, the capital. It was in 1985 that the winemaker Pablo Morandé presented the first Sauvignon Blancs to be produced in the area, a colder weather valley, and soon welcomed other varieties such as Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and later Syrah and Cabernet Franc.
It is expected that the incorporation of Valparaíso and Casablanca into this network of world wine capitals will generate a greater flow of foreign visitors and increase tourism promotion through its addition to this exclusive list.