Need help in planning visit to Chilean wineries

Just found out that I am probably going to Santiago for a week with friends during the third week of September. Have never been and would love to visit some wineries, but have no real feel for how far they are from Santiago. If anyone knows any good guides or articles, I'd appreciate being pointed in that direction.

My first sense is that I'd like to visit
Cono Sur Colchagua Valley
Casa Marin San Antonio Valley
Haras de Pirque Maipo Valley
Errazuriz Aconcagua Valley
William Febre Maipo Valley
Vina Punto Alto (Michel Laroche) Casablanca Valley
Vina Casablanca Nimbus Estate Casablanca Valley

Purely based on prejudice, I'd tend to avoid Concha y Toro, Casa Lapostolle, Vina Carmen, Vina Garces Silva,
Vina Montes, Vina Tarapaca, Rothschild. Please correct me if any of these is a must.

Thanks!

Oswaldo, if you can find it somehow, Decanter had a Chile supplement sometime around the end of last year, with lots of information.
My no 1 on your list would be Casa Marìn. I met the son of Señora Maria Luz Marìn in Stockholm last year and he was charming, so I suppose his rather famous mother should be too. Though their wines were a bit overloaded with oak, one could feel the potential in them. By far the most serious Pinot I've come across.

Cheers,
Anders

Oswaldo, if you can find it somehow, Decanter had a Chile supplement sometime around the end of last year, with lots of information.

Thanks for the lead - I found through google that it was in the October 2007 issue but I couldn't find the supplement in the Decanter site. I sent Decanter an email asking if there's any way to download it, but if any patient, organized and generous subscriber is willing to scan it and email it to me...

[Jenise]

Thanks for the lead - I found through google that it was in the October 2007 issue but I couldn't find the supplement in the Decanter site. I sent Decanter an email asking if there's any way to download it, but if any patient, organized and generous subscriber is willing to scan it and email it to me...

Covert Harris has long been a subscriber. If he keeps back issues, he may be your man.

Chile's changed a lot since I was there in '95, a year that predates many of the names you mention. I would only say, yeah skip Rothschild/Los Vascos. It's a three-hour ride south of Santiago, and you already know what you need to know about the wines--visiting won't change your mind. Toward that end, though, it's fair to mention that the hospitality at Santa Rita and Conchy y Toro exceed anything I've ever experienced at any American winery (granted, were I ITB I'd probably have a different view of this), and what we learned about the long history and pride of both wineries through those visits forever changed how I look upon their products when I see them on shelves here.

Decanter responded this morning with considerable generosity, offering to mail me a copy.

Thanks, Jenise, I'll keep Santa Rita and Concha y Toro in mind because the couple coming with us are only just beginning their wine journey, and focusing on the cooler names may be more interesting for Marcia and me but a little over this couple's heads. Nothing wrong with a little spectacle, especially when mixed, as you say, with warmth (hope they haven't turned too corporate in the last 14 years).

[Jenise]

Oswaldo, both of these wineries have chefs on site and served us lunch. Santa Rita's an old hacienda, where Concha Y Toro served us in the dining room of the old family mansion on the outskirts of Santiago, a mansion with a certain dated European splendor that was most charming. Before lunch we tasted several of their new lines, and after lunch we met with the old German winemaker responsible for the Don Melchor who poured us three different vintages. If you can wing such treatment, don't pass it up--I've tasted that memory every time I've had a glass in the years since.

Oswaldo, I just remembered one name from last year's Chilean wine day here that I liked quite a lot. That is Viña Encierra. I'm not sure which winery you meant when you wrote that you have chosen not to visit Rothschild. As I was told, this winery previously had a joint venture with the Rothschilds (of Lafite) but since this collaboration now has ceased, they are continuing with a part of the vineyard on their own. I liked the wines because they were nicely restrained, not over opulent or fruit-filled, and seemed to have a character, or perhaps rather personality, which I too often find to be missing in modern wines. Let me know if you need further contact information.

Cheers,
Anders

Just found out that I am probably going to Santiago for a week with friends during the third week of September. Have never been and would love to visit some wineries, but have no real feel for how far they are from Santiago. If anyone knows any good guides or articles, I'd appreciate being pointed in that direction...

The good news is that many of the top wine regions are within easy reach of Santiago. I would strongly recommend visiting the Leyda and Casablanca valley regions if you like aromatic zingy Sauvignon Blanc, peppery cool climate Syrah and Russian-River style Pinot Noir. Based on my visit last summer, I'd suggest:

Matetic, San Antonio region, Leyda region
Organic, owned by same family that has owned and been farming the valley for a long time. Nice modern winery with gravity setup and beautiful barrel room with stone walls encased in wire cages in a circular form. Organic farming, herd of sheep used for weeding in winter. Granitic subsoils with thin fairly well-drained clay topsoil. Wide shallow tanks for reds with punch-down pigeage machine. 7 tons/hectare for whites, under 5 tons/hectare for reds. Interesting restaurant on premises. I loved the Sauvignon Blanc and found the Syrah and Pinot Noir quite good too.

Amayna (Garces-Silva), Leyda Valley, San Antonio
Close spacing, open to ocean like Edna Valley, cold soak in sealed anaerobic tanks of 3-4 hours for whites, at least several days for reds. Oregon like winery with gravity feed spilling down hillside. Exceptional complex and aromatic Sauvignon Blanc both with and without oak. Good vigorous Pinot Noir and Syrah that seems to need time.

Morande’ in Casablanca Valley
Pablo Morande was pioneer in Casablanca. Morande is in an uplifted section with rolling hills and steep slopes. Cab F and Merlot and Syrah planted on steepest north-facing slopes, Pinot on south-facing slopes, SB on heavier soils. Very very dense planting and some steep slopes, must be crazy expensive viticulture. The company also owns big winery in Rapel, vineyards in Maipo for Bordeaux varietals. Will build a winery in Casablanca soon. They also operate a pretty restaurant and tasting room closer to the highway. While the Casablanca fruit creates nice zingy Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir, I wouldn't ignore the Merlot and Cab Franc from Maipo, which were fairly complex and Bordelaise in character.

Undurraga
An old hacienda estate in a slightly dowdy suburb south of Santiago in the Maipo. Atmospheric old cellars and fun old carriage collection. Originally producing low end fighting varietals and a few high end wines, there has been extensive retooling and rethinking here with some very good results, particularly with the Sidaris brand and the TH series which is supposed to be terroir-driven. Founders Reserve Cab was impressive.

Have fun...

Oswaldo, I just remembered one name from last year's Chilean wine day here that I liked quite a lot. That is Viña Encierra. I'm not sure which winery you meant when you wrote that you have chosen not to visit Rothschild. As I was told, this winery previously had a joint venture with the Rothschilds (of Lafite) but since this collaboration now has ceased, they are continuing with a part of the vineyard on their own. I liked the wines because they were nicely restrained, not over opulent or fruit-filled, and seemed to have a character, or perhaps rather personality, which I too often find to be missing in modern wines. Let me know if you need further contact information.

Cheers,
Anders

Good tip, I was looking for a second winery to visit in Colchagua Valley besides Cono Sur and that's where Viña Encierra is located (the Rothschilds I was intending to avoid are Los Vascos and Escudo Rojo, which I have found competent but not so interesting). From their website, Encierra sounds closer to old-school Bordeaux grape-wise, with hopefully local terroir expression.

Just found out that I am probably going to Santiago for a week with friends during the third week of September. Have never been and would love to visit some wineries, but have no real feel for how far they are from Santiago. If anyone knows any good guides or articles, I'd appreciate being pointed in that direction...

The good news is that many of the top wine regions are within easy reach of Santiago. I would strongly recommend visiting the Leyda and Casablanca valley regions if you like aromatic zingy Sauvignon Blanc, peppery cool climate Syrah and Russian-River style Pinot Noir. Based on my visit last summer, I'd suggest:

Matetic, San Antonio region, Leyda region
Organic, owned by same family that has owned and been farming the valley for a long time. Nice modern winery with gravity setup and beautiful barrel room with stone walls encased in wire cages in a circular form. Organic farming, herd of sheep used for weeding in winter. Granitic subsoils with thin fairly well-drained clay topsoil. Wide shallow tanks for reds with punch-down pigeage machine. 7 tons/hectare for whites, under 5 tons/hectare for reds. Interesting restaurant on premises. I loved the Sauvignon Blanc and found the Syrah and Pinot Noir quite good too.

Amayna (Garces-Silva), Leyda Valley, San Antonio
Close spacing, open to ocean like Edna Valley, cold soak in sealed anaerobic tanks of 3-4 hours for whites, at least several days for reds. Oregon like winery with gravity feed spilling down hillside. Exceptional complex and aromatic Sauvignon Blanc both with and without oak. Good vigorous Pinot Noir and Syrah that seems to need time.

Morande’ in Casablanca Valley
Pablo Morande was pioneer in Casablanca. Morande is in an uplifted section with rolling hills and steep slopes. Cab F and Merlot and Syrah planted on steepest north-facing slopes, Pinot on south-facing slopes, SB on heavier soils. Very very dense planting and some steep slopes, must be crazy expensive viticulture. The company also owns big winery in Rapel, vineyards in Maipo for Bordeaux varietals. Will build a winery in Casablanca soon. They also operate a pretty restaurant and tasting room closer to the highway. While the Casablanca fruit creates nice zingy Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir, I wouldn't ignore the Merlot and Cab Franc from Maipo, which were fairly complex and Bordelaise in character.

Undurraga
An old hacienda estate in a slightly dowdy suburb south of Santiago in the Maipo. Atmospheric old cellars and fun old carriage collection. Originally producing low end fighting varietals and a few high end wines, there has been extensive retooling and rethinking here with some very good results, particularly with the Sidaris brand and the TH series which is supposed to be terroir-driven. Founders Reserve Cab was impressive.

Have fun...

Thanks, CM, that's exactly the kind of info I was looking for. The Amaynas I've tasted have been very competent but a bit over-the-top modern, so I was inclined to skip them, but will reconsider. Matetic sounds great and will add the others to my list. It does sound like one can visit one valley per day, squeezing in two, at most three, wineries per day.

I'm just back from Santa Ema and Montes. Both were wonderful experiences. Santa Ema has two new wines--a Sauvignon Blanc from the Leyda region that will give many Loire Valley wines a run for their money, and an Old Vines Carignan that tastes like it might have been from Roussillon. The warm welcome and hospitality is just as others have described. The Montes winery in Apalta is beautiful, and you have to see the hillside where they've planted Syrah for the Montes Folly to believe it. I had the good fortune to meet Aurelio Montes, who in addition to being incredibly knowledgeable is also as charming a host as one could wish for.

Lucky you Oswaldo, sure wish I could get down there too. I am not real familiar with the geography of Chile, but IMO, if I could visit one Chilean winery I would make it Montes. I became acquainted with their "Alpha" line of wines about 12 years ago and if there is a better 18-20 dollar cabernet or syrah than theirs, I haven't found it. Not saying that there aren't a lot of good wine in that category, but theirs is a good example at their price point. I shy away from their chardonnay because IMO it is too woody. I am not a big fan of carmenere nor of malbec, however after saying that I do agree that their Alpha carmenere is also a very good representation of the grape, just that I am not big on it. I have never had their Purple Angel malbec, nor their "Folly" syrah, but I would bet they are Prime examples, but their price is above what I am willing to go. Like I said, I envy you the trip and opportunity.

Thanks, Dave and Bob, I'll have to revisit my attitude towards Montes based on your good words. Up to now I have found them to be prime examples of the "grapes picked super mature" school of high alcohol/low acid wines, but perhaps I haven't given them enough chances. Dave, the old vines carignan sounds great, will seek it out. In any case, will report on the trip, though it still seems so far away!

Oswaldo,

Did this trip happen as planned? Any feedback on wineries or visit recommendations will be appreciated, as I am in Santiago next month and am trying to arrange a day trip to 2-3 wineries.

Any updates or suggestions from others also welcome!

thanks,

Mike

Trip postponed!