Colchagua Valley Wine Country

Chile'S Best Known Red Wine Valley, Centred On The Town Of Santa Cruz; Home Of Carmenere And Some Of The Country'S Most Celebrated Estates · Santa Cruz, O'Higgins

The Colchagua Valley, two and a half hours south of Santiago, is the heartland of Chilean red wine: a broad valley of vineyards running west from the Andes towards the coast range, with old haciendas, adobe villages and some of the most famous estates in South America. Its grape is Carmenere, a Bordeaux variety that died out in France and was rediscovered here in the 1990s growing unrecognised among the Merlot, along with rich Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and old-vine Carignan. The wineries range from small family cellars to architect-designed estates on hillsides such as the Apalta slope, and many serve long lunches among the vines. The base is Santa Cruz, a colonial town with a large private museum, the Museo de Colchagua, and a plaza that hosts the harvest festival in March. Horse riding, cycling between cellars and huaso rodeos show the valley's cowboy culture, and the surf town of Pichilemu is an hour and a half west on the coast. Nearly every good visit needs a reservation.

Plaza de Armas, Santa Cruz, O'Higgins, Santa Cruz, O'Higgins, Chile

Wineries receive visitors from late morning to late afternoon, mostly by reservation, and many close on Sundays or holidays. Winery lunches start around one. The Museo de Colchagua in Santa Cruz keeps daytime hours. The Vendimia harvest festival fills the Santa Cruz plaza in early autumn, around March.

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