Wine Tourism in Chile

First and foremost, Chile is a wonderful place to visit for any type of traveler. There’s a diverse culture, an interesting history and gorgeous landscapes ranging from rugged ocean coastlines, snow capped mountain/volcano ranges with lakes, desert valleys and tundra grasslands. Santiago is also a lively city with plenty of nightlife.

Day Trips from Santiago

Most of the major wineries can be visited as day trips from Santiago although it might be nice to stay in the region to be able to visit more wineries and other local attractions.

There are Maipo wineries along the outskirts of the city especially around Penalolen, Puente Alto and Pirque, which will take 30-60 minutes depending where you are in the city. There are also Maipo wineries in the Isla de Maipo area about an hour south of the city. Some are accessible by public transport.

The closest Casablanca winery is around 45 minutes away from Santiago and it’ll take around 90 minutes to get to Leyda/San Antonio, San Antonio, and Casablanca vineyards closer to the coast and off the main highway. It’s also about 90 minutes to the main wineries in Aconcagua. Finally it’s about 2.5 hours to Santa Cruz, the heart of Colchagua and a little more to get to Curico and on to the Maule valley. You can stop at various wineries in the Rapel/Cachapoal Valley along the way to either one along Highway 5.

Some of the larger wineries that are further out than these places have offices or even tasting rooms/shops in Santiago. Of course all the best wine bars, tasting events and restaurants are in Santiago too.  You also have to consider that many of these big wineries have vineyards or source grapes from all over the country, so just because you visit a winery in Casablanca, it doesn’t mean the winery will only have wines from Casablanca for tasting and sale. Therefore, if you only have time to visit one of these valleys, you can research wineries that produce wines from other valleys to be able to sample different valleys and varieties in Chile.

Going beyond the above mentioned valleys to the north of Chile: Atacama & Coquimbo or the south of Chile: South & Austral region will take a much longer drive (or require a flight) and there aren’t that many wineries with the infrastructure to host regular tastings, but you can try contacting them. If you want to base your visits off your favorite variety types, then take a look at the regions and varieties sections. 

Reservations & Tours

Almost all Chilean wineries require reservations to visit them unlike many American wineries that have tasting rooms open to the public most of the week. Similar to American wineries, basically all visits and tastings cost money. Most of the larger Chilean wineries have regularly scheduled tours and a large tasting room. Unfortunately, many cater to beginners and only have tastings after tours and those wines are usually their lower end wines. Hence, rather than going to a winery with friends, you can simulate the same tasting at your house for less money especially if you’ve been on many winery tours before and are not interested in the tour. Most of the information they give is on their website anyway.

That being said, it’s still hard to beat being out of the city in the vineyard itself. Many have nice restaurants to try their wine with food and a nice view. Some allow you just to do tastings without tours and a few allow you to choose from a list of wines individually rather than a set flight they’ve created. Larger wineries also offer picnics, bicycle or horseback tours, and other activities.

If I were coming from outside of Chile, I’d try to visit at least one independent producer I can’t easily find in my country. Smaller independent wineries, many of which tend to be in the Maule Valley or further south, may not have the facilities to do regular tastings, but you might be able to make an appointment with the owner with a nice email. I suggest writing a message showing your knowledge and interest in (their) wine. You should mention if you’ve had their wines before or have their wines in your collection. To find independent wineries, start by checking out MOVI,  this catalogue from Vinos de Nicho. or randomly picking a producer you’ve never heard of from our winery directory. You do need to consider that the smaller the producer you try to contact, the less likely they speak English well unless they’re owned by a non-Chilean.  

Another option to help with language issues and allowing you to drink without driving is taking tours that focus on wine tasting or that combine visiting other sights with wine tasting. I’ve never taken any, so all I can do is post what I see on Tripadvisor. Some focus just on wine such as this one that does tours in English and Portuguese: Chilean Wine Trails. Another Portuguese language tour company is Balbine Tours. There’s Enotour too. In addition, there are some places where you can customize your own tour and just hire a driver. Here are two agencies that do both set and customized tours: Chile Off-Track and https://www.uncorked.cl/. Finally, there are touristic train rides you can take in Chile and some are wine themed. Around harvest time in March and April, the Tren del Recuerdo has specially scheduled scenic rides that take you to a harvest festival. They depart from Estacion Central.

Other Tasting Opportunities

There are other ways to taste wines in Chile. As I mentioned before, some wineries may have shops/tasting rooms in Santiago. El Mundo del Vino sometimes has tastings in some of their shops. You can contact them to be on their mailing list or just ask in the store because their websites are rarely up to date. Vinolia is fun a way to learn about wine and do tastings in Santiago. They also have a restaurant.

There are various special tasting events throughout the year. The CAV events page: https://cav.cl/el_club/eventos is one place to start looking for events. Chanchos Deslenguados occasionally hosts tastings for natural independent producers. Bocas Moradas is an event 3-4 times a year which hosts independent boutique (vinos de autor) wineries. Cata Urbana is also from Bocas Moradas but on a smaller scale. Wine Club Chile‘s D-Copas and El Buen Beber’s MeetandDrink are two newer tasting events. Avinemos hosts educational tastings including their Sideways Club, but it’s mostly for insiders and international wines. There’s also Nirvino. Wine dealer Alan Grudsky also hosts tastings. Around September there’s usually a Dia del Vino Festival in Providencia. There’s an annual Chile Wine Fest in Parque Bicentenario in Vitacura in December. Starting late February to early May, each region and many sub-regions host Wine Harvest festivals (See list of past Fiestas de la Vendimia and their location) with food, entertainment and lots of wine tasting.  MOVI usually hosts festivals. So does the wine guide Descorchados. El Vino Resiste and Copados are two new wine festivals. Oh My Wine also organizes tasting events and visits. Alberto Madrid organizes events and tours.  For actual certificates and formal wine study there’s the Escuela de Sommeliers de Chile, the Wine School, Mastering Wine, Wine Institute and Conservatorio del Vino. Lastly, if you come in September, there are a lot of events to celebrate Fiestas Patrias, where you can taste Chilean food and drinks (including wine & chicha) during traditional Chilean performances, games and Chilean rodeo. 

There are several restaurants and wine bars to visit as well. The best restaurant and wine bar is Bocanariz. They serve mostly independent wines and you can buy from them after dinner at a cheaper price than if you buy the bottle for dinner. I suggest doing their wine pairing tasting menu. Miguel Torres just opened up a restaurant in Vitacura with an extensive wine selection called La Bodeguita. They have one of the largest by the glass selections I’ve seen. La Vinoteca has a wine/food shop and restaurant also in Vitacura. Baco serves affordable brasserie style French food with a nice wine list (also several by the glass selections) and store in Providencia. Aligot in Las Condes is another French restaurant with an extensive wine menu. The Wine Room is a store connected to a steak restaurant in Providencia. I’ve never tried the restaurant though. La Cava del Sommelier is a wine bar/store with food also in Providencia. A couple of relatively new places in Providencia to eat and find smaller lesser known wine producers are Cora Bistro and Wine Rebels Bar. Les Dix Vins is a wine and cheese bar with French, Chilean and other international wines served with French cheeses. They choose a wine or cheese for free tastings in the evening a few times a week. In Nunoa, La Vinocracia is popular wine bar with a wine shop. In Bellavista, a new wine bar opened up where you get wine direct from the barrel: Materia Prima. La Bodeguilla de Cristobal serves Spanish food and hosts a lot of wine events. 

I should also mention that restaurant wine prices are quite reasonable. You can buy a bottle for as cheap as 10-15 dollars. The corkage fee is around the same in many restaurants too. Check out the buying wine in Chile section to find some of the best wine shops in Chile. 

Lastly, in addition to other activities like horseback riding and hikes, some wineries feature a “make your own wine” experience. I have a review of one of those experiences from a past post, and it also lists other places that do it. It’s a fun way to taste and be a wine geek since most tastings cater to beginners. 

Here are a list of wineries you can visit by region North to South:

Atacama Region

Despite Atacama being one of the driest places on Earth, they’ve been growing wine there for centuries mostly for their festivals and religious ceremonies. In San Pedro de Atacama, a top 5 tourist destination in Chile with stunning desert landscapes, they actually do make and sell wine at the artisan level. They grow at one of the the highest elevations in all of Chile. The best place to look to learn more about their wine is Vinateros de Altura Lickanantay, who now have co-op called Ayllu. The Lickanantay are the local indigenous people from Atacama. 

Even further north close to the border with Peru around Arica, you can find wines from Codpa, where they make a special wine mostly from sundried Pais that they call Pintatani. The Escuela del Vino de Codpa is good place to start looking to arrange visits and try their wines.

Between this area and San Pedro close to Iquique, you can visit Vino del Desierto, who make wine from the only registered native Chilean wine grape called Tamarugal, which has adapted to this land and climate. You can also do a wine tour there called La Ruta del Vino del Desierto. Contact here for more information.* In the same region, there’s also Vina Tamarugos. They make Cabernet Sauvignon and other varieties. A good wine shop to check out in Iquique is Santo Vino. Nearby is an excellent restaurant with lots of wine and pisco options: Rayu. *Read more about Tamarugal and tourism in this region from our visit there. 

All the wines from this region aren’t really for export, even to Santiago, because they hope people will come to experience these beautiful places and cultures along with the wine. Most of the wines here aren’t meant to be world-class wines, but they are meant to preserve the heritage of the people there and help the local economy with tourism. They invite people to come participate in their harvest and harvest festivals. 

Further down the Atacama desert, there are a few wineries here that might do tours and tastings. At minimum, you should be able to buy wines here that aren’t normally available in Santiago. They mainly make Moscatel and Syrah. There are also some larger wineries located elsewhere that source from this region like Ventisqueros’ Tara Label, but you can’t visit them in Atacama. However, you can now visit a new winery between Vallenar and Huasco called Buena Esperanza, who make Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and other reds. You might be able to taste some Pisco around Alto del Carmen too.  

The Huasco Valley is famous for their Pajarete wines, which is the oldest D.O. in Chile, and like other wines of this region probably has its origins from the Spanish Jesuits. In Spain, it is a condensed fortified wine made with Pedro Ximenez and Moscatel in Andalucia, but the D.O. Pajarete in Chile is made from late-harvested sun-dried Moscatel or occasionally Pais. Vina Armidita makes the most widely distributed Pajarete in Chile. All the other Pajarete producers can be found locally in or around Vallenar. 

Read about our trip to the Copiapo & Huasco Valleys. 

Copiapó Valley: Vina Fajardo

Huasco Valley:

Buena Esperanza

Ernesto Perfecto (Pajarete)

Vendimia del Desierto (Pajarete)

El Churcal (Pajarete)

Tres Quebradas (Pajarete)

Vina Armidita (Pajarete)

 

Coquimbo Region

There aren’t many wineries here, and I’m not sure if all of them take visitors, but there are some other things worth visiting in this region such as astronomical observatories for star gazing, the coast for whale watching and Pisco Distilleries. The most popular place to taste Pisco at a distillery is Mistral in Pisco Elqui. There are of course many pisco resto-bars in the town of Pisco Elqui and more distilleries and a beer brewery around the town of Vicuna too. Read about our experience in the Elqui Valley here. 

Elqui Valley: Elqui is able to grow grapes because its altitude at 2000m above sea level and ocean breezes keep the vines cool enough. Of course irrigation is used from the mountain water flowing through the Elqui River. 

Cavas del Valle Close to Pisco Elqui

Vinedos Alcohuaz This is the top producer in Elqui. They do Rhone grapes like Grenache and Syrah along with Malbec and Carignan. They are constructing a visitor’s center, so hopefully they’ll be open to the public soon. 

Vina Falernia Close to Vicuna. 

Mayu Winery Close to Vicuna. 

Elqui Wines Based close to La Serena.

Le Coq Wines Family run winery based around La Serena.

Primavento Around Vicuna in the village of Diaguitas, the name of the indigenous population of the region. 

Limarí Valley: South of Elqui, it is similarly hot and dry, but stays cool from the ocean breezes and fog. It’s one of the few places to be mostly limestone in soil type. Most wineries and Pisco distilleries are around Ovalle. 

Tabali: This is the top producer in the region and they make a surprising number of varieties even cool climate ones.  

Dalbosco

Tololo

Tamaya Wines 

Vina Soler The winemaker here is the same as Vina Aquitania in Maipo. 

Choapa Valley:       

Vina Choapa          

Domaine de Manson/Alpa (Arnaud Faupin) 

Aconcagua Region

Aconcagua Valley: This valley, like many Chilean valleys, starts at higher altitude from the Andes and extends to lower altitudes towards the Pacific Ocean. Hence, you can have varieties like Cabernet grow wonderfully in the East and Pinot Noir growing in the West along the coast. Despite being hot and dry, the Aconcagua river brings water from the mountains and the ocean air cools the valley at night. 

Vina Errazuriz: Their wines can be found everywhere in the US and Chile. Plus, their premium wines are actually cheaper in the US, so it may not be the place to visit if you want to taste something different. However, they have beautiful grounds and arguably produce Chile’s best wines.  

Flaherty Wines: Small and personal. Run by an American couple. The wife makes food with ingredients from their large garden to accompany the wines after the tour and tasting. 

Vina San Esteban: Here you can visit Inca rock carvings in addition to the winery. They’re one of the few wineries to grow Sangiovese. 

Vina von Siebenthal Swiss owner. One of the few to make a higher end Petit Verdot called Toknar along with Syrah, Carmenere and Cabernet. 

Montes has a vineyard in Zapallar on the coast that used to be open for visits, but they also have another one in Colchagua. 

Read about our experience at the Aconcagua Vendimia Festival. 

Other vineyards in the region can be found here: http://aconcagua.wine/

Casablanca Valley: There are too many to list here. I’ll admit that it is one of my favorite places to taste. After you exit the tunnel into Casablanca, it is often a different weather than on the side you entered, so you feel like you’re in another world. It’s this different weather being closer to the ocean which keeps the valley cool enough to grow Pinot. The soils are mostly sand and clay. You pass through most of the wineries on the way to Valparaiso and Vina del Mar, so it makes a nice stop on the way to those places or on the way back. The Sauvignon Blanc from here goes perfect with the seafood you’ll have on the coast. Here are some of the highlights based on what I’ve visited and/or tasted.

Vina Indomita: You come here mainly for the view of the valley up on a hill. They also allow you to pay for the tasting per wine, so if I come with visitors from out of town, I can select for them a sample of Casablanca and other regions of Chile like Maipo and Maule rather than a set flight. There’s a restaurant too.  

Vina Veramonte: This is a huge child friendly place. They have wines from Casablanca and outside of it. The restaurant is decent and they let you take your tasting wines to the meal, but you need to book for the meal in advance. Being more inland, the wines are riper and more modern in style than other parts of Casablanca. They also own the labels Primus and Ritual. 

Emiliana: Organic and they offer something a little different besides tours: a make your own wine experience. You will taste, develop your own blend and label, and then you leave with your own wine as a souvenir.

Bodegas Re: They’re known for doing strange blends, so it might be fun for more experienced wine drinkers to try something different. 

For superb Pinot and whites, there are also Villard (solid modern French winemaker), William Cole (bargain priced American producer), Montsecano (classic mostly unoaked higher end, low-intervention Pinot from an Alsatian producer, but not sure they do tastings), and Kingston (modern, American producer). Kingston also does a cooking class. Casas del Bosque is another option. They have all the tourism options: restaurant, picnic, biking, make your own wine and harvest experience in March and April (Read about our experience at Casas del Bosque). Quintay is another. 

Many make Syrah too while Loma Larga is known for their Cabernet Franc. Loma Larga also has a helicopter tour. I think Vina Morande also takes visits and has a restaurant, but they also have vineyards in other valleys. Viñamar is more known for their espumante (sparkling wines). They’re also one of the few wineries to have a harvest experience open to the public in March and April. Macerado, one of the better restaurants in the valley, is located there too. It not only features their sparklings, but other wineries owned by VSPT like San Pedro, Tarapaca and Leyda.  Attilio & Mochi is a small winery run by a Brazilian couple. They’re one of the few producers in the valley to do a Malbec, Grenache, an Orange wine and a fortified red.   

Another option a bit northwest of Casablanca is the Marga Marga Valley where you can discover traditional and natural winemaking at Vinedos Herrera-Alvarado. Vina Los Perales is also near here. It’s a large estate with a museum used mostly for events like weddings, but they do make a bit of wine you can buy and taste.

San Antonio Valley: 

Casa Marin Highly regarded producer of Pinot, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling and Syrah. They were featured in Rex Pickett’s Sideways 3 novel. They also have lodging. 

Matetic They’re well set-up for tourism with a hotel, restaurant and luxury camping. 

Garces-Silva: I’m not sure they do tastings, but they make modern style wines that many New World palates would like.

Leyda Valley: Technically a sub-region of the San Antonio valley. It doesn’t extend as far East as Casablanca, so it’s even more characterized by its coastal location. The soil type is different too since it is mainly clay, loam and granite. 

Leyda: It’s not clear if they do tastings. I’ve never had a bad wine from them though. Contact them. 

We have an overview of tasting itineraries you can do from Santiago to the coast. 

Central Valley Region

Maipo Valley: Maipo is basically Chile’s Napa or Bordeaux.  It put them on the map. Like many other valleys, there’s a higher elevation part (Alto Maipo) that extends into the valley at lower elevation (Maipo Bajo). The Alto Maipo area produces its most famous wines with cooler temperatures and colluvial soils. Drip irrigation is used. Again, there are too many wineries to list. Not all of them are equipped for tastings anyway, but again, it never hurts to contact the winery if you have a smaller winery in mind that you want to visit. I even visited a small 285 bottle family front yard vineyard (Hoops) by just contacting him and setting up an appointment. 

You can combine 2 or 3 visits in one day in the Puente Alto and Pirque area. Here are some of the options:

Concha y Toro: This is the busiest and most well-known winery to visit in Chile since they are the biggest producer and can be found in every country. 

Haras de Pirque: Has a nice view up on a hill and a restaurant. I would come here for lunch if choosing between the three in this area. It’s owned by Antinori, the big Italian wine producer. 

Vina El Principal: A modern style producer in Pirque. 

There’s also William Fevre and  Santa Alicia.

You can also combine one of these wineries with a hike in the Rio Clarillo National Park or visiting craft beer brewery and restaurant Cerveza Tubinger. 

In Penalolen, there are a few major wineries. One of them, Domus Aurea (who also produces Pargua), is hard to get in touch with, so I wouldn’t count on getting a tasting there. The other two have regular tours. You can also couple this by a visit to the nearby Baha’i temple. There’s also a hike to a waterfall nearby in Quebrada de Macul. 

Vina Aquitania: A collaboration between some big name Bordeaux producers, a Champagne producer, and a Chilean oenologue. 

Vina Cousino Macul: One of the oldest wineries in Chile. They make relatively classic style wines although there will still be plenty of fruit. 

A little further up is Perez Cruz and further south in Alto Jahuel is Santa Rita, two large well-known producers.  Santa Rita is one of the oldest estates and they also have a hotel, restaurant and museum. They are the principal winery for Grupo Claro, who also run Carmen and are partners in Los Vascos with Lafite. 

The previous two areas are more in the foothills of the Andes. However, there are some wineries located in an area called Isla de Maipo further west in the valley. There’s a nearby zoo in Buin if you have kids and a village called Pomaire, where you can buy local red clay earthenware and get good authentic Chilean food.

De Martino: They produce wines more on the classic side–not afraid to let the terroir speak. They arguably have the best single vineyard Carmenere in Maipo. 

Undurraga: This is a great first Chilean winery to visit because they’re one of the oldest. Plus, they have a museum on the indigenous Mapuche included in the tour too. Thirdly, they have a sala de aromas, which is great to do before you do the tasting so you can better describe what you’re drinking. Fourthly, they have good selection in their shop of wines from different regions of Chile. Some are large production international stuff, but others are small production terroir driven stuff like their T.H. series and Volcanes de Chile. None of them are terribly expensive and they’re all fairly representative of what Chile has to offer. Lastly, in theory they have a small bar section where you can select individual wines to taste beyond the ones that come with the tour. I’ve never seen anyone use it though. The only negative is that they have a lot of tourists. 

Odfjell, who makes more modern styled wines, is in this area too. 

Vina San Pedro Tarapaca: A crowd pleasing producer. The winery itself is one of the older ones. It was bought by the company who own San Pedro, who also own Leyda. 

Vina Santa Ema: Their wines are ubiquitous in Chile. They have a rather modern, middle of the road style. 

Rukumilla- A small family winery as a break from all the massive production ones around Talagante. Something you probably won’t find outside of Chile.   

Escudo Rojo, Mouton Rothschild’s wine in Chile (along with Almaviva, a collaboration with Concha y Toro), is near here too, but I don’t know if they’re open to the public. 

15 minutes north of Santiago in the suburb of Chicureo you can find Esfera Wines. They make wines with grapes from Elqui & Maule Valley in addition to grapes in Chicureo. Not many producers sources from the northern part of Maipo. 

Cachapoal Valley: This is the north-eastern part of the larger Rapel Valley designation. Like Maipo, its best vineyards are towards the East along the Andes at higher elevation with colluvial soil which allows for better drainage. Along highway 5 on the way to either Santa Cruz to explore Colchagua or on the way to Curico, you can stop at some wineries along the way within the Cachapoal appellation. A place to visit in the region is Rancagua, which has a nice safari park for kids. In April, it hosts the national rodeo championship. Chilean rodeo is quite popular outside of Santiago and very different compared to American rodeo.  

Vina San Pedro, in addition to Tarapaca in Maipo, has a winery you can visit in Cachapoal. They also own Vinamar in Casablanca, which you can also visit. They offer picnics too.  

Vina Los Boldos makes affordable and solid wines.

Valle Secreto makes modern styled wines more towards the mid-level price range in Chile, but I don’t think they have a market in North America though. 

Calyptra in Coya, Alto Cachapoal, is worth trying for their top wines, but they rarely take visitors.

Much further off highway 5 and using highway 66, is Vina La Rosa. Not far is Clos de Luz. 

Vik, an almost cult like wine from Norwegian Alexander Vik, has a luxury winery where you can have a bed and breakfast, spa, picnic, hiking/biking, cooking/eating and tasting experience.

If you prefer something more low-key, Tipaume produces low intervention wines and have a Bed & Breakfast to host visitors.

Similar to the Pajarete wines of the Huasco Valley, there is a traditional Spanish traditional wine called Chacoli that can be found in Choapa and Cachapoal. The town of Doñihue celebrates a Chacoli festival every July. Chacoli is generally a light acidic white wine with a little spritz from northern Spain/Basque country, but in Chile they make it as typically as a still white, rose and red. You can contact Chacoli producers here to visit and purchase.  The town of La Estrella is known for its Chicha, another traditional fermented drink. Find and contact them here. Vina el Boldo makes a Chacoli and Chicha too. Learn more about Chacoli and Chicha here. 

  

Colchagua Valley: Colchagua, the southern part of the Rapel Valley south of Cachapoal, stretches further west than Cachapoal. It’s a little cooler overall than Maipo and Cachapoal being further south. Additionally, the valley itself varies as it is cooler the closer you get to the ocean. However, it’s not really well-known as a producer of cooler climate grapes in the West like Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. It’s more known for Carmenere, other Bordeaux varieties and increasingly Syrah further East. As you continue down from highway 5, you run into some of the Colchagua wineries around San Fernando before having to choose to continue further south on 5 to Curico and Maule or go west on 90 towards Santa Cruz, the heart of Colchagua. 

Around San Fernando you can find Casa Silva and Vina Koyle. Casa Silva has a hotel and restaurant. Their tasting room/shop allows you to taste by the glass (a full glass, not a tasting sample).

Before you reach Santa Cruz, there are wineries along the 90. The first major cluster is in Placilla, where you can find Vina Escondida, Vina Ravanal and Vina Macaya. Ravanal has many tourism options including a make your own wine and picnic option. Luis Felipe Edwards, a large exporter you may have encountered in your country, is further south off the 90, but they’re not open for tourism. 

Around Santa Cruz, there are several wineries and some museums. In case it bothers you, much of the town’s attractions and Vina Santa Cruz itself, which has an aerial cable car, observatory, animals and other attractions for kids besides wine and food, is owned by a former international arms dealer still technically wanted by Interpol. If you’re more just interested in wine, I would visit Clos Apalta, which makes one of Chile’s most prestigious wines. However, they also have luxury accommodations, food, and other activities too besides tours and tastings. Clos Apalta is really a part of Casa Lapostolle, which doesn’t do tours, but they have a wine shop at their location. While Clos Apalta makes a very rich and expensive modern style wine, Laura Hartwig makes a more affordable and classic style wine. Viu Manent, Montes and Ventisquero are popular wines. Their wineries offer other things like picnics, hikes, etc. Nearby Vina Neyen offers the same things, but is actually part of Veramonte in Casablanca, so you might be able to taste it there too. Further along 90 going north, you can find MontGras, Maquis, and Estampa.  Lafite’s Los Vascos accepts tours too. Vina Sutil and their Hotel Vina La Playa are not far. Also around here is a new boutique winery La Despensa, created by an English winemaker. They also have accommodations.  

If you want to support Fair Trade small production wine growers, check out the Red del Vino. They also have a store and do wine tourism activities. 

If you want to try local Chicha in Nancagua, look here.

Read about our time in Colchagua here. 

Curicó Valley: Curico is essentially the northern part of Maule. I’m not sure if there’s any place to visit Curico other than Miguel Torres, a Spanish wine producer who has also been Curico since 1979. They show a good film that gives an overview of the Chilean wine industry and have a nice restaurant. Vina Las Pitras has a restaurant and hotel along with a couple of wines that I’ve never tried. Korta winery is nearby, but I don’t know if they have anything set up for visits. San Pedro also has another winery here and so does Valdivieso. I found a website in Spanish with phone numbers for smaller Curico wineries if you want to try to set up an appointment.

A nice day trip from Curico is the Radal Siete Tazas National Park and waterfall. 

Maule Valley: Maule and Itata were two of the first places to be planted with vines by the Spanish. There’s more rain here, so many vineyards do dry farming unlike most of the vineyards north of it.  It’s also one of the largest wine regions in Chile with many smaller independent producers and a diverse selection of varieties used. The soils are diverse too. However, many are not set up for tourism. If you’re a serious wine lover, perhaps you can contact some of the smaller wineries to see. Here are wineries that I know are open for visits: Gillmore, Balduzzi, Gonzalez Bastias, Via Wines, Maturana and Erasmo. One winery I would check to see if they take visits is Garage Wine Co., one of the founders of MOVI (Independent Winemakers Movement).

While you’re in the Maule valley, you might also run across Asoleado wines. This gained its own D.O. at the same time in 1953 as Pajarete in the Huasco Valley. It’s a sweet wine made from sundried grapes–usually Pais. There’s also a type of licor called Mistela in the region, usually made with white grapes. Erasmo and Coop Loncomilla make Asoleado wines for retail sale. Read about our stay in Cauquenes.   

       

 

 

 

South Region 

This region includes Itata, Bío-Bío, and Malleco Valleys. Of course the weather gets colder here as we move further south. Here the soils are alluvial, but Malleco, besides being the coldest in this region, is interesting for its red clay and volcanic soils. The largest city near here is Concepcion, a university and artsy town.

Although more and more wineries are sourcing their grapes from the South, there aren’t many set up for tourism, but that’s changing. In Itata, there’s Mannle, Vina Prado, Riveras del Chillan and many small producers. I found this brochure listing other small producers in Itata. Itata Paraiso in Portezuelo have a bed & breakfast if you need accomodations. They also make a rare Cabernet Sauvignon in Itata although Cinsault is quickly becoming what Itata is known for as well as traditional grapes like Pais, Moscatel, etc. It’s also becoming a hub for natural wine and traditional producers since some of the earliest vineyards in all of Chile were planted here. I would also check out the Vinateros del Cinsault, which is an assocation of Cinsault producers around Guarilihue, who sometimes host events. There’s a new producer making some headlines out of Itata called Dagaz, but I don’t know if they do visits. Another good for option for accomodations is Vina Chillan (not far off highway 5 in Bulnes), which has a restaurant, lodging and tastings (see our review). Vina Cucha Cucha has a night tasting tour out of Concepcion. Francois Massoc and Pedro Parra (Chile’s terroir expert) both produce a lot out of this region, so pros in the industry can contact them to set something up there. Finally consider visiting Vinas Ineditas Terroir Sonoro, who are unique in that they make wines using music, and they make varietal wines from some rare, recovered varieties. 

Aquitania, William Fevre, Porta who are based in Maipo, have vineyards in Malleco and Bio Bio, but you can only taste their wines in Maipo. In Bio-Bio, you can try contacting Cacique Maravilla, Roberto Henriquez or Vina Umpel. In Malleco, there’s also Vina Capitan (Los Confines) while Kutralkura and Casa Nicolas are further south closer to Temuco but also in Malleco. Another option is working with a tour company. Try Itata Expediciones or Itata Wine Tours. Beyond wine, this region is full of lakes, rivers, volcanoes and nature reserves for hiking, kayaking, climbing, skiing, etc. Read about our experience there. 

Austral Region

This region, techinically the northern part of Patagonia, is completely new for wine and being explored. It includes the Cautin and Osorno Valley. The Cautin Valley is just south of Malleco around Temuco while the Osorno Valley is somewhere in the middle between Temeuco and Puerto Montt if you were to try to reach its vineyards. In the Cautin Valley, there are producers in Perquenco and Galvarino while most Osorno wines are being produced around Lago Ranco and the Rio Bueno Valley. Mostly Pinot, Chardonnay, Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc are being grown here, and many make sparkling wines as well. 

Not much is set up for wine related tourism. Producers from the north are growing here, like Casa Silva, so you can taste their Austral wines from their vineyards in Colchagua. Villasenor, based further north, also has vineyards here. Vina Trapi and Coteaux de Trumao are two wineries that are solely based in Osorno, so they would be the best to contact. Coteaux de Trumao has recently built accommodations for visitors, so I’d try them first. Viña Wuampuhue in Carahue (Cautin Valley) was building a guesthouse too. Plus, you can try contacting Vina Trayenko and Aynco, who are also located in the Cautin Valley. Alto Las Gredas made a great Chardonnay in the Cautin Valley, but I heard they stopped production. 

Around Puerto Montt, you can also visit Puerto Varas and the Lake district and/or go to the island of Chiloe. They’re both on the top 10 list of things to do in Chile. Valdivia is top beer production town in Chile if you wanted to do beer tasting for a change.