Two Chilean Traditions Collide
By Kylie Garrett
Considered an emblematic symbol of Chilean identity and culture, the traditional Huaso is a Chilean horseman who, for centuries, has carried on the rural traditions of the country’s heartland. Among those rural traditions, wine enjoys a tenured history right in the backyard of the Huaso’s prime agricultural territory in central Chile.
Just an hour and a half south of the bustling city life in Santiago, a trip to central Chile’s rural Colchagua Valley, the birthplace of the Chilean Huaso, reveals a still-thriving equine country that is, not surprisingly, also home to present-day Chile’s most prime real estate region for quality wine.
Perhaps nowhere moreso do the two Chilean traditions of wine and horses coexist more cohesively than at Chile’s Viña Casa Silva, a Colchagua Valley family-owned and operated winery where rows of century old vineyards are surrounded by a full-size polo pitch, professional rodeo stadium, horse-jumping academy and stables home to more than 150 horses.
At the helm, Viña Casa Silva Managing Director and fifth generation wine purveyor, Mario Pablo Silva continues his family’s legacy as an award-winning wine producer and an award-winning, active member of Chile’s polo community. A man of many hats, Mario Pablo just recently served a four-year tenure as President of the Chilean Polo Federation from 2008 to 2011, and is currently Vice President of Wines of Chile, the trade association that represents the interests of Chilean wine producers.
Maximiliano Silva
As President of the Chilean Polo Federation, Mario Pablo led his countrymen to victory over Brazil in the 2008 World Polo Championships in Mexico, earning Chile accolades as the reigning World Polo Champions. Proving that the grape doesn’t fall far from the vine, all of Mario Pablo’s five children share their father’s affinity for horses. Mario Pablo’s oldest son, sixth generation, Maximiliano (18), is following his father’s footsteps as a promising young polo star, currently one of the youngest polo players on Chile’s national polo team. Mario (13) and Clemente (9) both play for the Casa Silva team in the national polo league, and Mario Pablo’s two daughters Dominga and Agustina do horse-jumping at the Casa Silva Polo, Rodeo & Horseback Jumping Club. Behind the scenes, Mario Pablo’s wife, Andrea, can be spotted among the crowd cheering on her children, as well as her family of horses.
On the Silva’s 740-acre Viña Casa Silva estate, Mario Pablo and his family’s passions for wine and horses unite. Guests are welcome to ride horses along the vineyards of original vines from Bordeaux planted in 1912 and skilled equestrians can burst hurdles in the shade of the Andes at Viña Casa Silva’s Polo Academy. While sipping on a glass of Casa Silva wine from the century-old vines that paint the landscape, visitors are encouraged to visit the on-site restaurant overlooking the full-size polo field where professionals and many members of the Silva family frequently practice and compete.
Over at the Viña Casa Silva’s Huaso rodeo stadium, a stone’s throw from the polo pitch, the Silva family hosts regular community gatherings and rodeo demonstrations, an outdoor tradition where friends, family and neighbors can commiserate and relax. The winery even has its own team, “Corral Doña Dominga” that competes at the national level with outstanding results.
When he isn’t tending to his horses or riding alongside his five children, Mario Pablo spends much of his time tending to his other passion, wine. Mario Pablo lives by a winemaking credo focused on premium estate bottled wine reflective of not only the region, but the family’s commitment to the lifestyles and traditions of Chilean culture, like polo and rodeo.
Today, as the owner and managing director of Viña Casa Silva, Mario Pablo has established the family-owned and operated, horse-friendly winery as an important fixture in Chile’s new generation of premium wine producers and more specifically, as a leader in the development and understanding of Chile’s trademark wine, Carmenère. Widely distributed in the United States, Vina Casa Silva is a recognized world-class producer of authentic, hand-crafted Chilean wine.
More than just a winery, Viña Casa Silva is an experience that represents the spirit of Chile’s oldest traditions. Amid a countryside of vineyards kept warm by the day’s sunlight and cool by the evening’s coastal breeze, the Huaso still looks after the heartland for which he represents. A destination for wine lovers and horse lovers alike, Viña Casa Silva continues to honor the spirit of Chile, one bottle of wine at a time. For more information, visit, www.casasilva.cl.