Casablanca Valley is a wonderful place for cool climate varieties, and 2019 was an exceptional year for Pinot Noir. The yields were lower than usual (about a full ton less per acre than the previous year!), but the quality of the grapes was outstanding. In order to preserve the freshness and acidity inherent to the fruit, head winemaker Alberto Guolo and consultant Sam Harrop MW set out to interfere as little as possible with the ageing process of the wine, with the idea of achieving a natural balance between freshness, maturity and elegance. To do so, they experimented with large vats such as Slavonian oak foudres of very little toast, ideal for a proper oxygenation without adding too much wooden notes. The result is a perfectly balanced Pinot Noir with a lot of identity.

Casas del Bosque´s own vineyard is located within the coolest, westernmost reaches of the Casablanca Valley, at about 250 meters of altitude, and just 18 kilometers away from the ocean. These grapes are grown on hillside blocks facing from north-east to north-west, all of them planted between 2000 and 2010 and equipped with drip irrigation. The soils are red, iron-rich and granitic, and crop levels average 5 tons per hectare (2.5 tons per acre). Upon harvest, all fruit is destemmed and cold soaked for 3-4 days. Spontaneous fermentation occurred in open-topped tanks, with the vats being hand-plunged twice every day. The total cuvaison was two weeks at most. After that, the young wine went through an elevage of 8 months: 25% into new American oak barrels, 65% into second use Slavonian oak foudres, and 10% into used barrels. A total of 2.700 cases were made.