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Chile

The real Chile is not yet known in the United States. The real Chile is far away from Santiago,
at the extremes. People aren’t coming here because it is too far out of the mainstream—so
99% of sommeliers don’t understand our real potential. But ever so slowly we are drawing a
little attention. We are starting to show people the dark side of the moon.
-Pedro Parra (Clos des Fous, Aristos, Parra Family Wines), speaking from Concepción in Itata

Contents
  1. Five Centuries of the Vine
  2. Geography and Climate
  3. Geology and Soil
  4. Wine Law in Chile
  5. Chile's Grape Varieties
  6. Winegrowing Regions of Chile
Chile is one of the 10 largest wine-producing countries in the world and second only to Argentina in the Southern Hemisphere. In the last 30 years the country has vaulted forward as a major exporter of wine and today ships more wine offshore than its citizens drink at home. According to USDA GAIN reports, Chile exports more wine, in both volume and value, to the United States than any other South American country. But Chile’s story, beyond single-digit bargains on the supermarket shelf, is not often told in the US. With a few exceptions Chilean wines rarely appear on fine-dining wine lists, and even when they do the category is usually a half-page entitled “South America,” offset by a chapter of Burgundy. Too often lumped in with Argentina and left behind by sommeliers, Chile deserves a second look.
Five Centuries of the Vine

Wine, Conquest, and Religion in Spain’s New World
Muscadine grapevines may have grown wild in Mexico, but it was the Spanish who introduced Vitis vinifera to the New World. As early as 1519, the Spanish Empire decreed that all ships sailing for the West Indies carry vine cuttings. The conquistador Hernán Cortés, who brought ruin to the Aztec civilization of Mexico in 1521 and established the American colony of New Spain the following year, reiterated the order and set quotas for vineyard production in his
  • in reply to Jairo Carrillo

    Yes, we have this one on the roadmap! 

  • in reply to Jairo Carrillo

    Hey, Jairo! We have three new expert guides in the works ;)

  • Is there an expert guide on the works for Argentina?

  • in reply to Maximilian Gregor Glatz

    https://www.wip.cl/chile-suma-102-variedades-para-sus-d-o-ig/
    I couldn't find it in english. The government did NOT approve Pais or Cinsault, there were many more grape varieties that were added (41) in March 2025 and now the total of approved grape vaieties in Chile for D.O. wines is 88. The next president will get the chance to modify it and approve the two varieties since by popular vote says that people wanted them but they were not approved, we will see.

  • in reply to Evan Martin

    i searched all over - can you give a source for this? thx

  • As of March 2025 País can now be on DO labels! 

  • I was struggling to find a map which had administrative regions, their corresponding Regiones Viticolas, and nested DOs, so I made one using this old map and the wines of Chile website. Note that the DOs are on the left with the corresponding RV & administrative region on the right. The Atacama and Austral DOs are off the map, but I did list them North to South. Hope it's helpful/do let me know if there are any errors. https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:US:c0e8b70d-a9cd-48e8-9316-06cc9ac1767d 

  • in reply to Keith Mattrick

    Hey Daniel & Keith! Per the current state of Chilean wine law, Secano Interior is the sole exception where it can be labeled. If you take a peek at page 6 here, it is omitted from the allowable grape varieties. 

  • in reply to Daniel Pendleton

    I'd look here, specifically Artículo 3º Bis., regarding the authorization of País and Cinsault for the denominación de origen especial Secano Interior.

  • Is País now permitted on Chilean labels? Anyone have good information on this?

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