Chile Wine Tours

You will enjoy a pleasant drive with the Andes as the dramatic backdrop, to the upmarket and charming Providencia neighborhood of Santiago. This is an ideal base for exploring the wine country for the next few days, and enjoying great food and wine hotspots nearby, relaxing and going for interesting walks.

After settling into your boutique hotel (complete with country French décor and a delightful courtyard), your private guide will lead you on a personalized walking tour of Santiago. See some of the most interesting locations such as the Mercado central and the quaint cobblestoned Lastarria barrio. Learn about some of Chile’s most famous citizens, from the founder of modern Chile Bernardo O´Higgins to modern poet Pablo Neruda and acclaimed author Isabel Allende.

Follow with a private, seated exclusive Chilean Wine Tasting at Santiago’s “más chic” new wine bar in the artsy Lastarria quarter. This will be a wine tasting with a knowledgeable sommelier of 8 wines introducing you to Chile’s main wine regions (Maipo, Casablanca, Colchagua and more) and representative grape varietals (such as Carmenere, Sauvignon Blanc).

Tonight, your elegant welcome dinner is at the highly acclaimed Astrid & Gaston, refined and inspired Peruvian cuisine and swanky ambiance. Sip Pisco Sours and enjoy the night!

Follow with a visit and charming lunch at one of the tiniest wine estates in Chile, the Corcoran Gallery (the same family as the revered Corcoran Gallery in DC) which is a micro organic vineyard of old vines, framed by beautiful roses. Located in the “Alto Maipo”, where some of the best red wines in the country are made, this is a neat experience. Sit down with your charming hosts to an al fresco lunch and tuck into succulent steak, served with their famed Cabernet Sauvignon. A real treat.

In the early evening, return to Santiago and the night is yours at leisure. We suggest the excellent Miguel Torres (The Catalan wine giant also has an estate in Chile) Vino and Tapas bar.

Errazuriz offers a professional but warm wine tour experience and on this intimate private visit (including a hillside vineyard walk, and of course the underground cellars) you will enjoy, tasting some of their top of the range icon (and multiple award-winning) wines such as Kai, Cumbre, and Don Maximiano.

A four-course lunch at their charming “Casona” will be next. Taste the local Chilean empanaditas and delicious salmon roasted over corn, or be more experimental and go for the fried conger eel with a quinoa pebre (Chilean chili sauce). They make great desserts in-house like traditional flan or you could try the simple and exquisite papayas with cream.

Then in the afternoon carry on to your next wine estate of the day, the premium Viña Von Siebenthal. The friendly Swiss owner Mauro was actually a lawyer before getting into the wine business; now his wines are some of the most highly acclaimed in the country. Salud!

Return to Santiago in the evening, it’s about a 90-minute drive. Relax and enjoy some free time. You could try the Confiteria Torres for dinner.

You will visit the American owned Kingston Family Vineyards first, widely considered to be the best in the valley, located only 12 miles from the coast. They make their wines with only 10% of the crème de la crème of their production and sell their other grapes to surrounding wineries. Taste their stunning Pinot Noir, Syrah and Sauvignon Blanc and enjoy the relaxed and warm visit.

Next up is the artsy town of Valparaiso. It will be time for lunch first, for example at the Oda Pacifico with to die for seafood and dramatic views out to sea. It calls itself a culinary lookout point, quite right too! After lunch, a private guide will lead you on a two-hour walking tour of the hills including Cerro Alegre and Cerro Concepción. You will see the colorful historic townhouses of Valparaiso, take a ride on a funicular and tour the intriguing private home of its most famous resident, Pablo Neruda. Great to break up the wine tasting with a spot of culture.

In the evening, continue on to your wine country accommodation tonight at the splendid Casona at Matetic vineyards in the San Antonio Valley about 45km from Valparaiso. The property houses a spectacular winery, luxurious rooms and gourmet restaurant run by Chef Matías Bustos. A gastronomic dinner will be onsite, you will absolutely love this.

Drive on to quaint Casa Marin then, a gentle twenty-minute spin. You will be hosted today by Osvaldo, founder María Luz Marín’s brother. They will welcome you to have a private lunch with the family, this is what a VIP wine tour is all about, the special attention. After a convivial lunch, head back to your gorgeous wine estate hotel and enjoy the property. We suggest a bike ride amid the vines! Dinner tonight is at your hotel’s fine restaurant, enjoy.

Before the winery tour, you will spend the morning with one of Chile’s culinary grande dames- Pilar Rodriguez (who has a cooking studio on the wine estate) and enjoy a private cooking demonstration followed by lunch. This includes three courses plus dessert with ingredients sourced from local farmers, all high quality and seasonal foods paired of course with Viu Manent estate wines. After lunch, visit the wine cellars and finish with a tasting.

This afternoon then, switchgear and head to the mythical Clos Apalta (Casa Lapostolle) for a tour and tasting. French-owned (by the descendants of the Grand Mariner liqueur, the Marnier family who also incidentally own the Chateau de Sancerre in Loire Valley), this estate features a cult winery, a luxury hotel with 4 suites (one of only a handful of Relais & Chateaux properties in South America) and a stunning pool with dramatic “vistas” of the vineyards below. Their motto is indeed “French in essence, Chilean by birth” and you will enjoy the best of Chilean hospitality and French panache. Nestled in a majestic landscape, amid lush flora, this luxury bolt hole is fabulous. Settle in and enjoy a gourmet dinner at Clos Apalta. Their icon wine is considered by many to be the premier wine of Chile.

Follow with a charming lunch at the excellent Casita Barreales, specializing in Peruvian dishes like ceviche and unexpectedly delicious simple preparations of tacu tacu (rice and lentils with chili).

This afternoon, you will then privately tour the cult Polkura wine estate. Created by Sven Bruchfeld and Gonzalo Muñoz whose life ambition is to make the best Syrah in the world. Located in the Marchigüe area at the Western end of the Colchagua Valley, this sub-region is quite close to the sea and considered a cooler climate wine within the context of Colchagua. This was the ideal location to make Northern Rhone style Syrah and this newish winery (whose first vintage was only 2004) has gone from success to success. Apart from Syrah, they are also making excellent examples of Malbec and Sauvignon Blanc. The wines here are simply delish, enjoy.

In the early evening, relax at the pool or go for a pre-dinner stroll in the vines. Dinner is at your wine hotel.

Your farewell lunch today is at the fine Altair wine estate, with jaw-dropping views over the valley. This “Grand Cru winery” was originally a joint partnership between the Bordelais Chateau Dassault and the Viña San Pedro wine estate in Chile, but it is now exclusively Chilean owned. The name refers to a star in the Aquila (eagle) constellation that shines more than ten times brighter than the sun. This winery aspires to make the finest wine in Chile, and you can judge for yourself if they deserve the 94 points earned in Wine Advocate, we think they do!

After lunch, enjoy a full tour and tasting of their icon wines. Then return to Santiago in the late afternoon and take advantage of a last free evening to pack and rest.

Have a safe journey home!