Discovering Chile Wines of Maipo Valley

Exploring Chile Wines in Maipo Valley

On our quest to discover Chile Wines, we explored the wines of Maipo Valley, home to some of the country’s most prestigious wines.

Many of Chile’s top red wines come from Maipo Valley which is described as the “Bordeaux of South America.” This valley is celebrated for its Cabernet Sauvignon though you will find other grape varieties including; Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.

On this trip, we visited Concha y Toro, Latin America’s biggest producer; Aquitania, a smaller boutique making high-end wines; and finally, Cousiño-Macul, an older family-run winery. 

The experiences at the wineries were all different and we invite you to read on for more.

Concha y Toro – Largest Wine Producer in Latin America

Concha y Toro is the biggest vineyard owner in the world. 

This means that Concha y Toro owns over 10,750 hectares of vineyards. This includes 9,133 hectares in Chile (not just in the Maipo valley), 1,154 hectares in Argentina, and 463 hectares in the U.S., where it owns Fetzer and Bonterra wines. 

As the largest producer of wines in Latin America, the experience at the vineyard reflected the industrial size of the production.  

We took a tour of the estate, which we highly recommend. With us were about 18 other visitors from, Brazil, South Korea, U.K., India, and the U.S.  

At the beautiful estate, we learned about the history of their wines. Concha y Toro was established in 1883 by Don Melchor, who was a successful businessman who regularly traveled to Europe. 

He took cuttings from the vineyards in Bordeaux and brought them back to his estate in Maipo Valley, where he planted them. 

Today, Concha y Toro is a publicly-traded company that can be found on the NYSE (symbol VCO). The family retains 5% of the shares.

Our tour continued to the original cellars named “Casillero del Diablo” (the devil’s cellar). Here we listened to a rather cheesy production of a myth about this line of wines. 

Apparently Concha y Toro himself spread the rumor that the devil lived inside of his wine cellars. This was to make people afraid to steal from his wine cellars, which apparently had been in a problem in the past.

Concha y Toro makes several different brands of wines and the most famous are the value-priced wines of Casillero del Diablo.

Our Impressions of Concha y Toro

When you visit the largest wine producer in the world, there are certain expectations that come with that. The experience felt very industrial and commercial.

It was like a machine with the most frequent words out of our guide and sommelier – “you can buy this at our wine shop.”  

The property is beautiful and there is a wine bar/restaurant on site. We enjoyed our more expensive tour with the Marques de Casa Concha tasting.

We chose to visit Concha Y Toro to see the fascinating operations of the “most powerful wine brand.”  A fascinating experience and one worth exploring.

Viña Aquitania – Boutique Winery with an Intimate Experience

Viña Aquitania was by far our favorite winery and one that we highly recommend visiting. It is easy to get to via public transportation.

This boutique vineyard is owned by one Chilean and three French owners.

Located at the bottom of the Andes Mountain, it makes for impressive views.

Vina Aquitania Tour

The tour of the winery began with climbing up their tower to enjoy amazing 360-degree views of the property.

We continued with visits to the fermentation room, cellars, and labeling area. 

Along the way, we learned about the magic behind Aquitania wines and what makes them so special. 

According to our tour guide, the idea behind Aquitania is “to produce high-quality wines in low quantity rather than lots of wine with mediocre quality.” 

All the harvesting is done by hand in April/May. While on the tour we saw the labeling done by hand, underscoring the artisanal wine production process.

Only 15,000 boxes are produced each year with 80% reserved for exportation primarily to Brazil and the U.S.

Wine Tasting at Viña Aquitania

After the tour, we were led to the gardens underneath a gorgeous Walnut tree overlooking the amazing Andes.  

For the tasting, we tried three Chilean wines. One Rosé, one Syrah, and the signature wine from the vineyard – Cabernet Sauvignon.

We really enjoyed these wines and particularly the Rosé (2014).  We ended up taking a bottle with us. 

The Cabernet Sauvignon (2013) and Syrah Reserva (2014) were also smooth, rich, and easy to drink. While we enjoyed both reds, we really liked the Cabernet Sauvignon. 

Either way, you can’t go wrong with the wines from Aquitania.

Our Impressions of Viña Aquitania

We really enjoyed the experience at Viña Aquitania. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable about the wines as well as the different wine growing regions in Chile. 

It is a small winery, so the tour goes by quickly. However, the reward of the delicious wines in the garden, makes it worth visiting. 

This is a must-visit winery in Santiago.

Viña Cousiño Macul – One of the Oldest Maipo Valley Wineries

Cousiño Macul is located about 20 minutes walking distance from Vina Aquitañia. Given the proximity, we hit both wineries on the same day. 

As one of the oldest wineries in Maipo Valley, established in 1870, we couldn’t miss seeing their operations. The convenience and easy access was a bonus as well.

We got there in time for a small and intimate English language tour with one German couple. 

The tour started at their old vines, followed by a visit to their antique wine cellars. The final stop was at the private cellars of the Cousiño Macul family. 

While we found the tour informative, parts felt rote and mechanical with pieces of information parceled out at specific stops. The experience ended up being a “museum tour” highlighting the “old” winemaking process. 

A little disappointing as we hoped for a fun experience.

Wine Tasting at Viña Cousiño Macul

After the cellar visit, we made our way to the tasting room. The tour included a tasting of four Chile wines.

The first was a Riesling, followed by a refreshing Cousino Macul rosé wine. The famous Chilean red wines were next, starting out with a Carmenere wine, Don Matias Reserva, 2014. 

The last wine of the tasting was a  Syrah, Antigua Reservas, 2012.  

The Wines

As red wines fans, not surprisingly we enjoyed these wines the most. Both the Carmenere and Syrah wines were exceptional.

With Maipo Valley famous for their red wines, Cousino Macul wines reflected that sentiment.  We found the two Chile red wines to be easy to drink, jammy and full-bodied.

Our Impressions of Viña Cousiño Macul

Going into it, we had high expectations of this vineyard as one of the oldest in Maipo Valley.

The winery is also still family managed, which was especially appealing.

Tours are offered in several languages including English, Spanish, and Portuguese. Even though our English speaking guide was not particularly passionate, we hope it is different with other tour guides. 

Regardless of our tour experience, we enjoyed visiting this historic vineyard and learning more about Chile’s history with wines. 

Given the proximity to the other vineyards, we recommend taking the day and visiting other wineries too.

In Summary

The wines from Maipo Valley are fascinating and numerous. 

While Chile is the largest exporter of bulk wines in the U.S., the market is dominated by just a few brands. 

What’s great about exploring the wines of Maipo Valley is we become much more exposed to the diversity of brands that exist. 

We didn’t have any bad wines, but there were definitely wines we enjoyed more than others. Our favorites were the reds – Carménère and Cabernet Sauvignon. 

Have you had Chile wines before? Please let us know in the comments below.

Savor The Adventure!

Chile Wine Locations & Directions

Concha y Toro, Av. Virginia Subercaseaux 210, Pirque, Región Metropolitana. 

Direction to Concha y Toro: Metro Line 4 to Las Mercedes, Metrobus 73, 80 or 81 to the winery. (1h30 from downtown Santiago).

Viña Aquitania, Consistorial 5090, Santiago, Peñalolén, Región Metropolitana.

Direction to Aquitania: Metro Line 4 to Quilin, Local bus D17 to the winery.

(1h10 from downtown Santiago).

Cousiño Macul, Calle Quilin 7100, Penalolen, Santiago, Región Metropolitana

Direction to Cousiño Macul: Metro Line 4 to Quilin, Local bus D17 to the winery.

We recommend calling or sending an email to the wineries at least 24 hours ahead of your visit to book a tour. You will find their contact information on their websites.

(1h from downtown Santiago).

Love it? Pin it!

Disclaimer: This page contains affiliate links. That means at no extra charge to you, we earn a small commission when you purchase using these links. Thank you for your support.