By WINEGUYMIKE
Courtney Kingston is the owner of Kingston Family Vineyards in the Casablanca Valley of Chile. Kingston has been a past guest on the WineGuyMike Radio Show™ and Mike had a chance to sit down with Courtney on Wine Time and find out what’s new at her family vineyards and most importantly talk about her family’s wines.
This is a story of sustainability and it was at Stanford while completing her graduate studies that she solved an age old problem; how to sustain a ranch beyond 3 generations. Kingston’s answer, plant grapes to sell to other wine producers and use 10% of the premium harvest to produce wines under the Kingston Family Vineyards label.
Kingston’s grandfather was a mining engineer from Michigan who in 1906 relocated to Chile to work for a gold mining company. While he never realized that dream of striking gold he married a Chilean woman and settled what 5 generations of the Kingston clan have known as the “Farm”.
Courtney Kingston.
The “Farm” is a large cattle ranch and dairy farm located 12 miles from the Pacific Ocean in the western hills of the Casablanca Valley in Chile. There are three distinct climates ranging east to west and three main growing regions from north to south that make up the terroir of Chile’s grape growing areas. The Coastal Region is a cool climate, the Central Valley is warm, and the Andes Mountains can be cool or warm depending on the location.
The major grape growing regions of Chile are the Casablanca Valley featuring (Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir), the Maipo Valley featuring (Cabernet Sauvignon), and the Rapel & Colchaqua Valley’s that feature (Cabernet Sauvignon, Carménère, Merlot).
Sauvignon Blanc Vineyard.
Kingston’s grandfather was not the only risk taker in the family, Courtney’s strategic plan included growing not only Sauvignon Blanc which was common to this region but she planned to also grow Syrah and Pinot Noir which was not. Kingston enlisted the help of winemaker Byron Kosuge and the rest is history. Sauvignon Blanc was planted in the flat sections of the farm while the Syrah and Pinot Noir were planted to the higher hill sides.
Kingston Family Vineyards goal has been to produce premium wine at affordable price points offering true consumer value. They have accomplished this goal and these wines receive the WineGuyMike Seal of Approval™. The Tobiano Pinot Noir and Cariblanco Sauvignon Blanc are available at the Market on Front in Missoula.
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