A Guide to Chile's Wine Regions and Climates

Introduction

Chile is blessed with an incredible climate for producing wine. Hot, sunny days combined with cooling influences from both the Pacific Ocean and the Andes mountains enable for perfectly ripe grapes with unparalleled freshness, aromas and acidity. Temperatures can typically vary by up to 20 degrees from day to night. Moreover, a huge diversity of soil types lends identity and character to each of Chile’s viticultural valleys, with clay, loam, limestone, sand or volcanic makeup, depending on the valley.

The Valleys and the new complementary D.O. System in Chile

Favourable and stable conditions mean that quality wine can be produced over 1,500 km along the length of Chile –almost half the length of the world’s longest country. Viticulture in Chile spans 6 regions, 18 valleys and 8 subvalleys, all with a Denominación de Origen (D.O.). Furthermore, a separate designation of origin system has been developed to help consumers of Chilean wine to recognize what kind of climate the valley has. These reflect Chile’s east-west topography.

If you imagine a cross section of Chile, on the western side we have the Pacific Ocean –with its icy humbolt current and upwellings; to the east we have the staggering snow-capped Andes Mountain range and in the middle we have the Coastal Mountain range, which runs parallel to it. This gives us three distinct climates: There are COSTA (coastal) zones, ANDES zones, and ENTRE CORDILLERA (between mountains) zones.

We have separate small-group tours covering all three of these regions, reflecting the diversity of Chile. We visit COSTA (Casablanca + San Antonio/Leyda), ANDES (Aconcagua), and ENTRE CORDILLERA (Maipo + Colchagua) regions. As well as being some of Chile’s most prestigious regions, they are also the most accessible, mostly within 1 hour from Santiago. The exception is Colchagua, which is a bit further (2.15hrs) and makes for great two-day wine excursion.

BOOKINGS / ENQUIRIES

Boutique and micro winery tours in Chile
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