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Chilean Fine Wine

It was in the 1990s that Chile emerged onto the UK wine scene via a steady supply of great-value and reliable – if not always hugely exciting – wines. The majority of these were Cabernet Sauvignon-based, blended with other Bordeaux varietals. Over the last 30 years, that solid base has been richly developed in terms of both quality and diversity.

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Chile: Incredible diversity & pioneering producers

That diversity increasingly stems from a wider array of terroirs, stretching from Chilean wine’s traditional heartland of Maipo, near Santiago and the Andean foothills (home to various renderings of Bordeaux blends, but also Syrah), to cooler coastal zones, where the likes of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc all thrive. Rather than aiming for consistency, most top-end producers today are trying to harness regional identity to craft more terroir-expressive wines, ideally while emphasising balance and freshness rather than the sometimes four-square, ripe-fruited profile of the past. This search for finesse over opulence is helped by the country’s preponderance of ungrafted vines and sustainable viticulture (facilitated by its historical avoidance of phylloxera), which adds another string to the bow of what is today an increasingly dynamic wine country.

Popular Chilean wine regions

Maipo, close to the Chilean capital Santiago, has a rich concentration of bodegas, many of them dating back to the country’s original plantations of the 19th century. Its reliable climate lends itself in particular to red wines, largely made from Bordeaux varietals, which were imported before phylloxera devasted France, and have proved resistant to the vineyard louse in this part of the world. Further south of Maipo comes Rapel and its subregion of Colchagua, which play host to more varied soils, including an abundance of clay, which lends itself well to Merlot. Carmenère is also prevalent (for years, the two were confused) and the diversity of terroir here makes for fine complexity in some of Chile’s most ambitious Bordeaux blends, notably Casa Lapostolle’s Clos Apalta and Montes’ Purple Angel. The cooler Aconcagua, home to the trailblazing Seña cuvée, has emerged more recently as a fine source of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, particularly in the ‘Costa’ enclave towards the Pacific coastline. In a similar way, the even cooler Casablanca and Bio Bio are recognised as a haven for white wines, including Sauvignon Blanc.

Chilean wine FAQs

What are the main grape varieties of Chile?

Chile’s fine wine identity has traditionally been dominated by Bordeaux varieties – in particular Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Carmenère. The latter was for many years mistaken for Merlot, but is these days being cultivated and vinified as a valuable variety in its own right, yielding welcome acidity and smooth, ripe tannins. Chile’s wide variety of climates and soils lends itself to a wider array of varieties than it is perhaps known for, with Syrah also enjoying benevolent conditions. Meanwhile, Sauvignon Blanc thrives in the country’s cooler regions, such as Casablanca, as do Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, notably in the increasingly exciting Aconcagua Costa subregion

What is the signature style of the top Chilean reds?

Whereas in the past, a focus on the US market led producers to seek ripe, bold reds that found favour with Stateside critics, today, as with its neighbour Argentina, there is a focus on freshness rather than power. Over the Andes, Argentinian winemakers have looked towards high-altitude sites to deliver such qualities, while in Chile there has been a focus on cooler, sometimes coastal climates, earlier harvests and old vines to deliver complexity and finesse. Often this comes in the form of tapenade, menthol, spice and herbal notes, yielding vibrant, lifted fruit rather than stewed flavours.

Chilean Wine Producers

Chile is home to several largescale producers of extremely reliable, good-value wines who also boast more premium labels within their ranks. A huge enterprise such as Concha y Toro harnesses supremely well-crafted, ambitious bottlings at the top end – so-called ’icon’ wines – in its case the rich yet lifted Don Melchor. Most such wines are Bordeaux blends, with some influenced by overseas winemakers. Errazuriz’s pioneering Seña cuvée, which famously bested Bordeaux first growths and SuperTuscans in blind tastings, was originally developed in partnership with Californian legend Robert Mondavi, while Bordeaux’s Baron de Rothschild, of Lafite fame, invested in the country with its Colchagua outpost Los Vascos. Other notable homegrown names to emerge in the pivotal 1990s include the likes of Montes and Casa Lapostolle.