San Antonio, Chile: Casa Marín & Matetic Vineyards

Felipe and Maria Luz Marin

Knowing how much it amuses me to create a nice little theme, which in this case cunningly revolves around a couple of great wineries found in Chile's San Antonio Valley: Casa Marín and Matetic Vineyards. This 'cool-climate' coastal region lies to the south of the perhaps better known (or longer established at least) Casablanca Valley and (south)west of the country's lively capital Santiago.

Chile: De Martino Carmenere vertical tasting and more...

Welcome to "the dark side of my winemaking," as De Martino's winemaker Marcelo Retamal put it, tongue in cheek, as we tasted the 2007 vintage of their single-vineyard Carmenere. Fortunately for us, he didn't don the full-monty black cape and dodgy breathing apparatus and convert to the Dark Side permanently. In fact, he saw the light again and came back down the righteous sky-walk of sensible winemaking and vineyard practices.