Chile wine regions, home of Carmenere, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon

Date: July 29, 2011
Philippines Wine Shop Clark Wine Center is pleased to share with you articles, news and information about wine, wine events, wine tasting and other topics related to wine and the appreciation of wine.

This warm valley is where you’ll find the largest vineyards of the famous Carménère grape. Originally grown in Frence, the Carménère was thought to be extinct after an 1867 plague killed off most of the French vines. Fortunately, it had been brought to Chile, where it survived. Today, Chile is by far the world’s leading producer of Carménère wine, which is a dark, flavorful red. The Colchagua valley is famous for fascinating wine tours: if you want to visit and learn more about Chilean wine, this is a great place to start.

Curicó Valley

At the feet of the mighty Andes Mountains, the scenic Curicó Valley is Chile’s largest producer of white wines, although with almost 20,000 hectares under cultivation, there is plenty of red as well.

Itata Valley

The first grape vines were planted in this valley over 450 years ago, making it the oldest continually-producing wine region in the Americas. The wineries are keenly aware of their history and have even begun a back-to-basics approach to making their wines. The Itata Valley is home to the Casanueva Winery, which is somewhat famous for aging some of their wines in underwater cellars! They claim that the underwater aging makes for the perfect way to keep temperatures constant and that the extra pressure gives a unique flavor to the end product.

Maipo Valley

One of Chile’s more famous wine regions, the Maipo Valley includes the capital city of Santiago, and is therefore the easiest to visit. There are several wineries within a few hours of the city, and most of them offer tours. Chile’s largest wine producer, Concha y Toro, is located just outside of Santiago: you can even take the metro most of the way there. The region is best known for quality red wines.

Casablanca Valley

Known for its Chardonnay, the Casablanca Valley is located a little but northwest of Santiago on the way to the coast. It’s very close to the popular destination town of Valparaiso, and it’s worth a stop at one of the many wineries there if you’re on your way between the two.

SOURCE: http://www.suite101.com/content/chilean-wine-regions-a57085

Clark Wine Center was built in 2003 by Hong Kong-based Yats International Leisure Philippines to become the largest wine shop in Philippines supplying Asia’s wine lovers with fine vintage wines at attractive prices. Today, this wine shop in Clark Philippines offers over 2000 selections of fine wines from all major wine regions in the world. As a leading wine supplier in Philippines, Pampanga’s Clark Wine Center offers an incomparable breadth of vintages, wines from back vintages spanning over 50 years. Clark Wine Center is located in Pampanga Clark Freeport Zone adjacent to Angeles City, just 25 minutes from Subic and 45 minutes from Manila.

Wines from Burgundy, Bordeaux, Rhone, Loire, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Austria, Alsace, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, South Africa, Chile and Argentina etc. are well represented in this Clark Wine Shop.

For more information, email Wine@Yats-International.com or visit http://www.ClarkWineCenter.com