Best of wine tourism for Valparaiso-Casablanca Valley

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On November 2, 2016, at the Portofino Restaurant in Valparaiso, the Association of Viticulture Casablanca Valley, the Municipality of Valparaiso and the Municipality of Casablanca celebrated the awards ceremony of the Best of Wine Tourism Awards for 2017.

Valparaiso-Casablanca Valley wine tourism 2017

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In the third version of this international competition, the jury was composed of Rodrigo Aravena, journalist of Bio Bio Radio; Eduardo Quevedo, director of the Tourism and Hospitality Career of Duoc UC, and Francisco Fantini, journalist and writer of Gourmet Patagonia Foundation. They chose the winners of the seven categories of Best of Wine Tourism 2017, awards that celebrate innovation and excellence in wine tourism.

The event was attended by the Director of Tourism of the Valparaiso Municipality, Rafael Torres, who stressed the importance of the union of the Casablanca Valley and Valparaiso in the economic, cultural and especially the touristic area, commented that it is in this last area in which the wine tourism offered by Casablanca is complemented perfectly with the activities currently developed in Valparaiso.

Finally, Mario Agliati, President of the Viticultural Association of the Casablanca Valley, referred to the importance of this competition at both national and international levels, mentioning how interesting it is that the three participants of the Valparaiso Casablanca Valley play a part in this competition, which allows them to highlight their attractions and the contributions that they perform for making the Valparaiso – Casablanca Valley a unique tourist destination. He also pointed out that this year the participation of Valparaiso as a World Heritage City is encouraging. In conclusion, he invited participants to attend the next annual meeting that will bring together the Great Wine Capitals in Valparaiso and the Casablanca Valley in 2017.

The “Best Of” awards are given by the network of global wine regions called Great Wine Capitals, which share economic and cultural values. Its aim is to promote tourism, culture and trade among the internationally recognized Great Wine Capitals. This contest rewards the wineries and organizations of the wine industry of each member city that have distinguished themselves in terms of innovation and excellence in wine tourism.

The winners of each category in 2017 are:

SUSTAINABLE WINE TOURISM PRACTICES:

Matetic Vineyard

ACCOMMODATION:

Matetic Vineyard

WINE TOURISM RESTAURANTS:

Portofino 

ARCHITECTURE AND LANDSCAPES:

Parque Cultural Valparaiso 

WINE TOURISM SERVICES:

Casas del Bosque Vineyard 

ART & CULTURE:

Baburizza Palace 

INNOVATIVE WINE TOURISM:

Estancia El Cuadro 

About the Great Wine Capitals Global Network

Founded in 1999, the Great Wine Capitals Global Network is an alliance of ten internationally renowned wine regions – Adelaide, South Australia; Bordeaux, France; Cape Town, South Africa; Mainz|Rheinhessen, Germany; Mendoza, Argentina; Porto, Portugal; Bilbao|Rioja, Spain, Valparaiso|Casablanca Valley, San Francisco|Napa Valley, USA and Verona, Italy. The Best Of Wine Tourism awards are an industry benchmark for excellence, recognising leading wineries and wine-tourism related businesses within each Great Wine Capital that have distinguished themselves in areas such as innovation, service and sustainable practices. For more information visit www.greatwinecapitals.com.