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Chile

Central Valley

120 000 ha under vine

Soils
Alluvial gravels and clays washed down from the Andes and the coastal range
Climate
Dry Mediterranean under Andean meltwater irrigation; cool nights off the mountains

On the map

Central Valley — 120 000 haMendoza — 150 000 haNingxia — 40 000 haMarlborough — 29 000 haColumbia Valley — 25 000 haSonoma County — 24 000 haNapa Valley — 18 000 haPaso Robles — 16 000 haStellenbosch — 15 000 haWillamette Valley — 11 500 haBarossa Valley — 11 500 haMaipo Valley — 11 000 haSwartland — 10 000 haCanelones — 7 500 haMcLaren Vale — 7 000 haCasablanca Valley — 6 000 haMargaret River — 5 800 haNiagara Peninsula — 5 500 haClare Valley — 5 500 haCoonawarra — 5 700 haHawke's Bay — 5 000 haFinger Lakes — 4 000 haOkanagan Valley — 3 000 haHunter Valley — 2 500 haYarra Valley — 2 500 haTasmania — 2 000 haCentral Otago — 2 000 haConstantia — 450 haCentral ValleyMendozaNingxiaMarlboroughColumbia ValleySonoma CountyNapa ValleyPaso RoblesStellenboschWillamette ValleyBarossa ValleyMaipo ValleySwartlandCanelonesMcLaren ValeCasablanca ValleyMargaret RiverNiagara PeninsulaClare ValleyCoonawarraHawke's BayFinger LakesOkanagan ValleyHunter ValleyYarra ValleyTasmaniaCentral OtagoConstantia
Blob size ≈ vineyard area · approximate locations · coastlines from Natural Earth

Vines arrived with the conquistadors — País was planted from the 1550s for the mass and the table — but modern Chile dates from the 1850s, when landowners imported cuttings from Bordeaux on the eve of phylloxera. The louse never followed: fenced off by the Andes, the Atacama and the ocean, Chile still farms ungrafted vines of pre-phylloxera genetics, a living archive Europe lost.

The Central Valley runs south from Santiago between the Andes and the coastal range, its alluvial soils irrigated by mountain meltwater. Maipo, Colchagua and the Apalta bend are its most famous names, Cabernet Sauvignon its backbone — and Carmenère, long confused with Merlot in the vineyards until it was identified in the 1990s, has found its second homeland here after nearly vanishing from Bordeaux.

The vineyard

Indicative share of plantings

The wines

Chilean Carmenère Red wine Chilean País Red wine

Through time

Indicative presence index, 0–100Origins & Antiquity — 0The Monastic Middle Ages — 0Exploration & the Fortified Age — 25Classifications & the Golden Age — 20Phylloxera & the World Crises — 15The Modern & New World Era — 60Antiquity0500150017001875195060
Exploration & the Fortified Age 1500 Classifications & the Golden Age 1700 Phylloxera & the World Crises 1875 The Modern & New World Era 1950