Our Story

Liz Caskey Culinary & Wine Experiences was born in 2004 as a boutique travel firm that was built as an alternative to the cookie cutter style approach of tourism in South America. We knew there were more stories to tell, more places to discover, and emotions to connect. As curious travelers ourselves, we are on a mission to share our findings with the rest of the world.

We are passionate about food, wine, design, and how they are expressed through the exquisite craftsmanship in the region. From stylish lodges to fine wines, spicy olive oils, or a colorful handmade textile, the intention of every journey is to indulge your curiosity while finding meaning and honest flavors. Knowledge, care, and attention to detail are what you get.

We constantly scout South America to vet every experience that goes into our journeys, the same way chefs, wineries, coffee roasters, and chocolate makers source their precious primary ingredients. When we fall in love with an ingredient, we want to know about its provenance and its journey of transformation to become what it is. We learn from the artisans about their craft and then design how it will fit into your own journey.

The Founders

Liz Caskey & Francisco Ramirez are a couple in life. They have been working together in luxury travel for over 15 years. She cooks and writes while he photographs. They both love to muse over fine wine together. She is American; he is Chilean. Liz Caskey Culinary & Wine Experiences is the expression of their tango together through travel, food, wine, art, design, and life. Their two young children, Micaela & Leonardo, have also joined them on this beautiful journey.

Searching for flavors; the honest
and the meaningful

Press

Liz Caskey Culinary & Wine Experiences has been praised by international media outlets as one of the foremost travel curators specialized in food and wine in South America. They were named a “Top Travel Specialist” by Condé Nast Traveler and have been listed as the expert on Food & Wine travel in South America during five consecutive years on the Travel + Leisure A-list. Their curated trips, recipes, wine selections, and travel philosophy have also been featured in publications from Forbes to Afar Magazine and more!

Condé Nast Traveler

“TOP TRAVEL SPECIALIST FOR SOUTH AMERICA”
​April 2020

Doré

“EXPLORING THE ATACAMA”
December 2018

Forbes

“THE NEXT GREAT DESTINATIONS: 8 Places to Beat the Crowds this Summer”
March 2018

Travel + Leisure

​”THE BEST TRAVEL AGENTS for Mexico and Central and South America”
August 2017

Travel + Leisure

“A-LIST”
2013-2017

Forbes

“THE MOST UNDERRATED CITY IN SOUTH AMERICA: Santiago, Chile”
May 2015

Forbes

“2014 TRAVEL WISHLIST”
2014

The Yellow Table (Blog)

“WANT TO GO TO SOUTH AMERICA? Liz Caskey shows us how”
September 2013

Afar

“MORE VOLUNTEER VACATIONS”
March-April 2012

Luxury Magazine

“THE LOST WORLD”
December 2011

New World Review

“Q&A WITH Liz Caskey”
August 2011

inWines Magazine

“FIVE-STAR WINES”
December/March 2011

La Tercera

“NOMADS OF THE SEAS launches a new tasting cycle Chile”
August 2010

Globe Pequot Press

“SOUTH AMERICAN COOKING”
July 2010

Lancaster Online

“QUAKE CONNECTIONS”
February 2010

Anthony Bourdain No Reservations

“CHILE” Season 5, Ep. 11, Local Fixer & Production
July 2009

Food Arts

“HUNGRY FOR TRAVEL”
April 2009

Frommer’s Travel

“ORGANIZED TOURS IN CHILE’S WINE COUNTRY”
2004-2008

Frommer’s Travel

“SPECIAL-INTEREST Vacations in Chile”
2004-2008

Frommer’s Travel

“ORGANIZED TOURS IN SANTIAGO”
2004-2008

Celebrated Living

“A TASTE OF SOUTH AMERICA: CHILE”
Fall 2008

PBS/Gourmet Magazine - Diary of a Foodie

“CHILE: Mixing Land and Sea” and “DRINKS: the Golden Age of Spirits”
May/June 2008

The Pennsylvania Gazette

“A TASTE OF CHILE”
November/December 2007

Travesias

“CHILE, Tours Gastronómicos”
October 2005

Capital Magazine

“LA REINA DE LA FERIA”
November 2004

National Geographic Traveler

“RED HOT CHILE”
July – August 2004

LA CAV Magazine

“LA GRINGA DEL BARRIO Brasil y su tour gastronómico”
November 2003

From our Journal

IN SEARCH OF FLAVOR, EPISODE 38: Seba Zuccardi on the Rise of Uco Valley Wines

In this episode, we sit down with Seba Zuccardi, the pioneering force behind some of Argentina’s most distinctive and terroir-driven wines hailing from the Uco Valley in the Mendoza province. While the Zuccardi family winery was established by his grandfather in Mendoza’s Maipú region in the 1960s, it’s Seba who has spearheaded an audacious exploration […]

READ MORE

In Search of Flavor, EPISODE 37: How Fungi & Regenerative Farming Can Save Us (Re-release of Episode 13 with Guiliana Furci)

Soil is life. Without it, we cannot sustain ourselves on Earth. We are losing it, poisoning it, chopping it up with tilling, and with it, depleting the fungi which are integral to it, an intricate system, a web, that connects the plants, micro-organisms, digests carbon dioxide, and so much more. In this re-release of Episode […]

READ MORE

In Search of Flavor, EPISODE 36: The Skinny on End-of-year Travel

South America’s Southern Cone exudes an irresistible summer siren song during the end-of-year travel season. While the days get cold, rainy, or snowy in the North, the weather is all sunshine and gelato in the South. It’s no wonder why it’s a favorite winter destination, from Patagonia’s glaciers to the sun-drenched vineyards of Mendoza and […]

READ MORE

0