First planted in the 1980s, the Casablanca Valley of Chile is, given the over 450 years of viticulture in the country, a very recent addition to its stable of winegrowing regions. Located about an hour by car west of Santiago, it is situated in a transverse valley, similar to the Sta. Rita Hills in Santa Barbara county, just off the Pacific and its cooling, Antarctic, Humboldt Current. Further similarities to the Sta. Rita Hills are that it is rated as a 1 on the Winkler Scale, the coldest, and that its proximity to the equator, which lessens the hours of sunshine, results in a very long growing season. And, unlike the rest of Chile, where vitis vinifera vines are planted on their own roots because phylloxera has famously never been established there, the vines in Casablanca must be grafted onto non-vinifera rootstocks that are resistant to nematodes—microscopic worms that damage vines by feeding on the roots. Where things differ dramatically from the Sta. Rita Hills is in price. Despite being certified sustainably farmed by one of the most famous winemakers in Chile, Ricardo Baettig, this wine is a bargain. Aromas of flowers, wet gravel, strawberries, watermelon with flavors of bergamot, meyer lemon and peach skins with a touch of tannins. There is enough intensity to serve with entree salads with intense and/or funky flavors or all by itself on the patio.