In our latest db producer profile series, we are shining a light on some of the finest wineries around the world, here we explore the rising quality of wines from Viña Casa Marin.

Viña Casa Marin is a boutique family vineyard founded by Maria Luz Marin (better known as Mrs. Marilu) in the year 2000. 

In essence, Casa Marin is considered a boutique size winery, because it produces more or less 180,000 bottles of wine a year (30,000 boxes of six). Furthermore it is also considered a family vineyard.

Nicolas, the eldest son, is the operational manager. Felipe, the youngest son, joined the vineyard in 2009, after studying in California and New Zealand, returning to work in the field of his mother. His experiences gave him the opportunity to create new types of wines, with the same variety but with a different prototype. The pure passion that Felipe´s mother has is shared with her son. Together, they form a mother and son duo, showing great dedication to this project. Felipe´s partner, Jamie, started at Casa Marin in the early 2010’s and is now the commercial manager.

Currently the vineyard exists on four different aspects covering a wide variety of hills. The soil is just as varied with four different types of soil (sandy soil, clay, calcareous soil with marine deposits, and granite). Visitors to the winery can drive through deep sand deposits and in a matter of minutes be driving over seashells and limestone.

Items of interest

• Mrs. Marilu came from the first group of women who graduated from the University of Chile, with a degree in agronomy and winemaking in the year 1974 and is the first female winemaker in Chile.
• Casa Marin is the first winery in Chile founded by a female winemaker. Back when it was founded, no bank would ever finance a female winemaker trailblazing into a new wine region, so Marilu started a Bulk Wine export business. She became the main exporter of Chilean wine to Tesco. It was through her own entrepreneurship that she founded her own winery. Inspiring.
• Mrs. Marilu is, additionally, the only female oenologist, winemaker and founder and owner of a Chilean winery.
• Casa Marin is the closest winery to the ocean in all of South America. Only 4km.
• Casa Marin is the only winery in DO Lo Abarca, giving the winery a rare Monopole status.
• The early days of Casa Marin pushed Chilean wine into a new territory with its groundbreaking cool climate wines. Since then many vineyards in Chile have ventured into the coastal areas affected by the cool humboldt current.
• Casa Marin’s wines have never scored below a 90.

Fast facts about Vina Casa Marin

• All grapes are hand harvested.
• All grapes are hand sorted.
• Very little new oak is used to respect the aromatic finesse of the wines.
• Barrels are used for years with some for the 2005 vintage still in use.
• Most of our wines relly on ambient yeast to ferment the wine.
• The cellar is lined with rocks from the nearby San Antonio Quarry. These are the last rocks to be mined from the quarry. The craftsmanship of mining these rocks was not passed onto the next generation.
• The style is very purist and seeks to convey the terroir of what is covered in the bottle. Which means a low-intervention oenology, but very careful. The winemakers are involved in every part of the process, from the selection, the movements and the deborting of the wines and that gives it a unique value. 
• Casa Marin produces wines from wines with commercial yeasts, sulfites, but at the same time has lines with a more natural wine look. It offers up a wide range of styles and sometimes mixes both styles to achieve a specific result.

Felipe Marin, winemaker and viticulturist of Casa Marin said: “For Viña Casa Marin’s oenologist, the highlight is that all the grapes are harvested in gamela, by hand, that the entire vineyard does not have a rod, it is standing, no acidity correction is made in any wine.” 

Marin explains: “The cellar is in such a cold place with so much wind that we do not need air conditioning, since the temperature in the area is low, which allows us to have the cellar open and ventilated and thus reduce the risk of contamination.”

According to travelling sommelier Nicholas Cumming: “Across the globe, Casa Marin is taught as the example of Chilean excellence and Chilean Sauvignon Blanc,” he explains, adding that “all sommeliers should know Casa Marin”.

Plans for the future

In terms of its sustainability efforts, Casa Marin is removing a vineyard to install solar panels. Plus, 2022 marks the 20th anniversary of the first harvest, so there are plans afoot to have some labels with logos and special designs available for customers. 

This season, Casa Marin did not have frosts and so will be able to make Sauvignon Gris. In fact, it is one of the winery’s most anticipated and demanded wines by its clients. 

Additionally, the winery plans to offer its first harvest of Chardonnay in a very Casa Marin style – a very Lo Abarca style.

Gold and silver medal-winning wines from Vina Casa Marin

Tasting notes provided by Patrick Schmitt MW

Casa Marin, Cipreses Sauvignon Blanc, 2020 – Gold

A gently reductive style of Sauvignon, featuring a touch of struck match, beneath which are bright grapefruit aromatics and notes of bell pepper. It’s not so reductive on palate however, with plenty of vibrant grapefruit, lime, and green bell pepper. A fresh, zingy, aromatic, Sauvignon, that’s both lively and layered.

Casa Marin, Syrah Miramar, 2012 – Silver 

Although there’s a whiff of onion-like reduction initially, there’s plenty of red fruit beneath, with a touch of green peppery aromas too. On the palate, there’s cherry and strawberry, some plums, followed by refreshing crunchy red fruit, a touch of apple, and fine but dry tannin, as well as a hint of reduction. This is a youthful and refreshing medium-weight red with potential to open up and develop greater complexity with a little more time in bottle.