Casa Real joins La Place

By Andrew Catchpole

Published: 30 September, 2021

Chile’s Casa Real has become the latest New World producer to offer wine through La Place de Bordeaux, with its 2018 Reserva Especial marked for distribution via this high-end route to market with immediate effect.

Viña Santa Rita, owners of Casa Real, has appointed International First Growths (IFG), a courtier business specialising in Australian and more latterly Chilean wine, to guide new sales towards European and Asian markets.

Speaking of the heritage of Casa Real Reserva Especial, Viña Santa Rita’s chairman, Baltazar Sánchez (pictured), said: “This was a dream of Ricardo Claro, who 40 years ago tasked the Santa Rita team and the winemakers to create this wine, Casa Real, as a faithful exponent of the best terroir in Chile for Cabernet Sauvignon, able to stand side-by-side with the best wines of the world.

“This shared vision is now being fulfilled by this historic step in entering La Place de Bordeaux, the world’s most exclusive international distribution network for fine wine.”

Describing 2018 growing season as “one of the best in living memory”, the Casa Real Cabernet has since 1989 been produced from the Carneros Viejos vineyard in the Alto Jahuel area of the Maipo Valley, on the foothills of the Andes.

“The 2018 vintage is a superb expression of an exceptional terroir. The pure fruit definition, persistent fine-grained tannins and French oak barrique maturation are all finely balanced giving a wine of lovely tension and complexity,” said Casa Real’s winemaker Sebastián Labbé, adding that that the wine would have great longevity.

Tom Portet, director of IFG, said: “We are delighted to be part of this exciting new step for Santa Rita’s Casa Real, a wine that is the perfect fit for La Place de Bordeaux. It has fascinating history, reputation and the consistency of quality to capture the attention of fine wine customers in this unique international forum.”

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