10 Day Chile Uncorked

After checking out of your hotel this morning, you will be transferred to your accommodation in the Maipo Valley. En route enjoy a day of touring in the region

Maipo Valley Intro

One of Chile’s largest and most historically significant wine regions, the Maipo Valley has the nation’s capital city of Santiago at its heart. The valley includes more than 30,000 acres of vineyards, more than half of which are dedicated to Cabernet Sauvignon. For the past 150 years, vines have grown to the north of the city, while thousands of acres of vines also thrive in the fertile passageway that extends southwest of Santiago!

Winemakers insisted that no other place in Chile has the quality of terroir of Maipo Alto. They were keen to note that the upper Maipo offers hillsides with multiple exposures to the sun, warm days and cool nights, little to no rainfall during the late portion of the growing season, and most important of all, alluvial soils that allow for proper drainage and impart mineralogy into the grapes, and hence the wines. In the 1850s the Maipo Valley is where Chile’s wine industry began; today the region and its Cabernet Sauvignons still largely define Chilean wine.

A day in Maipo Valley

Begin the morning with a visit to a producer such as Vina Perez Cruz for a visit followed by a tasting of their range including Liguai. There will be time to walk in the vineyards with your host before the tasting. The winery was built of native wood with two barrel-shaped central naves, exterior arches that evoke the passing of wind through trees, and stone foundations that recall the structures the Incas left behind in the area. Its sustainable design incorporates a gravity-flow process and has a 3-million-liter capacity, responsible for producing well-balanced wines of origin, with naturally low yields and soft tannins.

Next, you will be welcomed at the small boutique winery, Antiyal for a picnic lunch and tasting. One of Chile’s best boutique wineries, Antiyal is the private vineyard of Chile’s most celebrated oenologist and leader in organic viniculture, Álvaro Espinoza. Together with his wife, Mariana Ashton, Espinoza cultivates a ½ hectare of Cabernet Sauvignon which produces about 6,000 bottles per year from his small cellar. Antiyal has been acclaimed by the most prestigious wine magazines in the world and is currently exported to multiple international markets.

Our final stop will be at Haras de Pirque, or similar, for a tour and tasting. The vineyard is located south of the Maipo River between 1800-2100 feet above sea level, on the northern slope at the foothills of the Andes. Due to their location at the foot of the hill, the fermentation warehouses have a marked slope that allows the grapes and musts to be processed by gravity, reducing the use of motor pumps and other equipment. Haras de Pirque represents Marchesi Antinori’s desire to produce high quality organic wines that are able to express Chile’s winemaking potential while promoting the Maipo Valley’s extraordinary terroir.

Your guide will return you at the day’s conclusion to your accommodation.

Day at Leisure

Enjoy a day at leisure to explore at your own pace. Or simply relax and make use of the facilities at your accommodation

After checking out of your hotel this morning, you will be transferred to your accommodation in the Colchagua Valley

Cachapoal Wine Touring

Along the way enjoy a day of touring in the Cachapoal Wine Region.

After a scenic drive, you will be welcomed to the state of the art winery, Vina San Pedro, for a tasting of their production including their two premium labels: Altair and Sideral. Founded in 1865, Viña San Pedro is today one of the largest and oldest exporters of Chilean wine and one of the most important wineries in the country. Named after one of the brightest stars in the sky, Altair is a renowned red blend that comes from the best selection of varieties grown in the different geological formations of the Cachapoal Andes Valley. The project was formed in 2000 as a joint venture between Vina San Pedro and France’s Laurent Dassault. The idea was to combine some of Chile’s top terroir with top winemaking techniques coming out of Bordeaux to make world class wines from Cabernet Sauvignon dominated blends. Sideral is the perfect synergy of exceptional flavor - a blend of five strains which together exceed the individual qualities of each.

After your visit, we make our way to the winery’s barbecue area where you will be treated to lunch full of fine and intense flavors that rescue the secrets of Chilean cuisine. While you enjoy your traditional meal, feel the mountain breeze and take in the spectacular panoramic view of the Cachapoal valley.

As we drive further on this afternoon, stop for a visit to a producer such as Vina Koyle. The winery emerged in 2006 when Alfonso Undurraga Mackenna, started the search for the ideal terroir to make red wines of the highest standard. They studiously observed and analysed every inch of the land, prioritising the quality and expression of the grapes to achieve unique wines. Because of this, and working with 13 different grape varieties, they have achieved an authentic result in their wines. Each wine is printed with the effort and passion that the team at Koyle put in every day. Guided by Biodynamic agriculture, they respect the origins of their wine. All grapes are harvested by hand and vinified with a low intervention philosophy to preserve their natural expression, freshness and finesse.

Alternatively we may consider Tipaume Boutique Winery for your second tasting in Alto Cachapoal today. The estate, run by Yves and his wife Valentina, focuses on making biodynamic and natural wines from their 6-hectare vineyard to produce just 3,000 bottles each year. The name of the vineyard was inspired by a small stream that borders the property and bears the same name. Tipaume is a Mapudungun word whose meaning is "place of exit" and is interpreted as the waters that come out of the Andes Mountains to irrigate crops. The winery itself is completely underground and it is here they produce their three wines – Tipaume, Sous La Terre and Grez, which are made in clay amphora.

After your visit this afternoon, your guide will deliver you to your accommodations for check in.

Additional Options for Day 4

Vina Vik - Suite

VIK Chile, the most luxurious hotel in Chile, will inspire you to switch off and unwind. Located at the top of a hill in the middle of the valley, very close to the Andes Mountain Range, Vik Chile boasts 360º panoramic views of the vineyards, the striking VIK Winery and our natural surroundings. The luxurious, original rooms invite you to rest and indulge all your senses in a one-of-a kind experience. Transparent spaces full of life and a central patio with a Zen garden surrounded by colourful flowers welcome our guests. The living room invites people to gather and relax with its notable artwork, including paintings by Roberto Matta and a diptych from Anslem Kiefer’s iconic series The secret life of plants.

Colchagua Valley Intro

The Colchagua Valley, set in the south-western half of the larger Rapel Valley, is known for its beautiful vineyard-covered hills, hundred-year-old vines, modern high-tech wineries and enchanting colonial estate houses. Still very much under-the-radar and relatively new in comparison to the traditional Maipo Valley, the region produces full-bodied red wine varietals including Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and the country’s famed carménère. Thanks to a favorable mix of mild Mediterranean climate, with marine breezes cooling the vines and granitic and volcanic soils which allow grapes to ripen with little intervention.

Colchagua Valley Tour

Meet your private wine guide this morning and set out together for a day in the vineyards.

You will be welcomed at a very special property, Neyen Winery or similar, for a tour and vertical tasting. Neyen was founded on the site of one of the region’s oldest wineries, with original Bordeaux Cabernet Sauvignon vines dating back to 1890, in the Apalta valley. In 1936, when Carmenere vines took root, the spirit grew stronger to produce a classic blend that reflects the unique soils of Apalta. A new world wine with an old world essence.

Lunch will be served with a tasting at Viu Manent, named the 2017 winery of the Year by Wines of Chile. Viu Manent is a Chilean winery owned by the Viu family. It was founded in 1935 when the Catalonian immigrant Miguel Viu-García and his two sons Agustín and Miguel Viu-Manent founded Bodegas Viu in Santiago de Chile. They bottled and sold wine on the local market under the “Vinos Viu” brand. Situated in the southernmost portion of the Rapel Valley, one of Chile’s best-known wine regions, Viu Manent has earned much applause for its full-bodied Cabernet, Carménère, Syrah, and Malbec, and its wines regularly appear high on the world’s lists of leading wines.

Continue this afternoon with a visit and tasting at another estate such as Casa Lapostolle. The Apalta vineyard is 100% under Organic and Biodynamic management. Casa Lapostolle was founded in 1994, by Alexandra Marnier-Lapostolle (of the Grand Marnier family) and is considered one of the architectural greats of Chilean wineries.

Your guide will return you to your accommodation at the end of the afternoon.

Additional Options for Day 5

Vina Vik - Suite

VIK Chile, the most luxurious hotel in Chile, will inspire you to switch off and unwind. Located at the top of a hill in the middle of the valley, very close to the Andes Mountain Range, Vik Chile boasts 360º panoramic views of the vineyards, the striking VIK Winery and our natural surroundings. The luxurious, original rooms invite you to rest and indulge all your senses in a one-of-a kind experience. Transparent spaces full of life and a central patio with a Zen garden surrounded by colourful flowers welcome our guests. The living room invites people to gather and relax with its notable artwork, including paintings by Roberto Matta and a diptych from Anslem Kiefer’s iconic series The secret life of plants.

A morning in Colchagua

This morning, set out with your private guide again to discover another top producer in the surrounding valley.

You will be welcomed to an icon of Colcahagua, Vina Montes, for your tasting today. Viña Montes is the shared vision of four friends, first dreamed up in the late 1980s, of making Chilean wines to a higher level than the world had ever seen. THe modern winery, opened in 2004, the winery features gravitational technology, a sustainable ethos and feng shui design supervised by expert Sylvia Galleguillos. A feature of the winery is the impressive, semi-circular underground cellar that lies at the heart of the building. Its flagship cuvées include the ‘Alpha M,’ an intense red blend only made in prime vintages and aged for 18 months in new French oak, and the Montes ‘Folly,’ one of Chile’s first ultra-premium Syrahs made from the Apalta vineyards’ steepest and highest slopes.

After your visit and tasting, sit down to a fantastic lunch before returning to your accommodation.

Afternoon at Leisure

Enjoy the remainder of the afternoon at your leisure, relaxing or exploring, the choice is yours!

Additional Options for Day 6

Vina Vik - Suite

VIK Chile, the most luxurious hotel in Chile, will inspire you to switch off and unwind. Located at the top of a hill in the middle of the valley, very close to the Andes Mountain Range, Vik Chile boasts 360º panoramic views of the vineyards, the striking VIK Winery and our natural surroundings. The luxurious, original rooms invite you to rest and indulge all your senses in a one-of-a kind experience. Transparent spaces full of life and a central patio with a Zen garden surrounded by colourful flowers welcome our guests. The living room invites people to gather and relax with its notable artwork, including paintings by Roberto Matta and a diptych from Anslem Kiefer’s iconic series The secret life of plants.

After enjoying breakfast and checking-out of your hotel, meet your guide in the lobby. They will be ready and waiting to begin the drive towards the coastal town of Valparaiso.

Casablanca Wine and Isla Negra Tour

En route your guide will bring you into the vineyards to discover more Chilean wines and the house of Chile's most influential Poet.

You will be welcomed for a tasting at Viña Casa Marin where you will be received by the owner Maria Luz and Felipe Marin Owners, Founders & Winemakers for a visit and tasting. Casa Marin is a family-owned winery in Chiles San Antonio Valley and is Chile’s most coastal vineyard, located just four kilometers from the Pacific shoreline. Founded in 2000 by Chiles first female vineyard owner, Maria Luz Marin, Casa Marin has been described as one of the most daring and innovative vineyards in the country. In addition to the more commonly found whites, they also grow Gewürztraminer, Riesling and Sauvignon Gris, in an area with a unique terroir, highly mineral and with very cool nighttime temperatures.

Following the tasting, enjoy lunch at a local restaurant in Isla Negra, a coastal area of El Quisco.

Afterwards, continue with your guide towards Casa de Isla Negra, one of Pablo Neruda's three houses in Chile. Pablo Neruda was one of the most influential and widely read 20th-century poets and winner of the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature. Casa de Isla Negra was his favorite house and where he and his third wife, Matilde Urrutia, spent the majority of their time in Chile. Neruda, a lover of the sea and all things maritime, built the home to resemble a ship with low ceilings, creaking wood floors, and narrow passageways. A passionate collector, every room has a different collection of bottles, ship figureheads, maps, ships in bottles, and an impressive array of shells, which are located in their own "Under the Sea" room.

As your day comes to an end, arrive at your hotel for check-in.

Casablanca Valley Intro

Among the newest and the coolest regions in Chile, the Casablanca Valley has quickly become the country’s go-to source of crisp whites. Located just 20 miles from the Pacific Ocean, the ocean-cooled climate extends ripening time and makes it an excellent home for varieties like Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir. Vines were first planted here by Pablo Morandé in 1982, meaning this young region features modern wineries outfitted with the latest technology.

Casablanca Valley

Meet your private guide at your hotel and together set out towards to the Casablanca Valley.

This morning, start with a tour at a boutique producer such as Matetic Vineyards for a visit and tasting. Matetic Vineyards is a magical and inspiring place where the production of bio-dynamic grapes to produce high quality wines is combined with a unique wine experience. The winery is in the San Antonio Valley. Visit the vineyard and winery and immerse yourself in the world of wine, where you will enjoy an entertaining tour of the winery’s facilities and a tasting in the Matetic wine cellar. You will see that there is more to Matetic than their fine wines.

We continue on for a visit at an estate such as Kingston Family Vineyards. In the early 1900s Carl John Kingston, packed up his belongings and made the months-long journey from Michigan to Chile in search of copper and gold but his fortunes were not to be found in metals but meat. The family ended up in the cattle business for the next 90 years. With the 1990s came another generation of Kingston’s and new possibilities for the farm. While in graduate school at Stanford University, Courtney Kingston wrote a business plan that had little to do with cattle and traditional farming: She wanted to plant a vineyard in the far western hills of Casablanca.

After your visit and tasting, enjoy lunch overlooking the property.

This afternoon, a third visit and tasting will take place at Catrala, or a similar estate. Enjoy a private tour, followed by a tasting of their wines. The vineyard is surrounded by native woods in a natural biosphere reserve, a place on unique biodiversity. The sea breeze from the Pacific and the quartz soil all contribute to these wines which express a perfect balance of nature and terroir.

Alternatively we may consider a tour of the cellars and tasting at Bodegas RE for your third tasting today. RE are unique conceptual wines, which involve recreating the ancestral Genesis, through the use of artisanal winemaking processes in clay amphorae, with current techniques and knowledge.

Valparaiso and Vina Del Mar

Today with your guide, discover Valparaiso. Once one of the most important ports in all of South America, full of globetrotting European residents and their riches, this city long served as the continent’s glamorous link to the rest of the world. Locals, known as porteños, are an incongruous mix of artists, sailors, and students, still gathering at the same century-old bars, while Edwardian villas and Art Nouveau palaces balance on hilltops. Citywide restoration efforts are now rescuing crumbling landmarks; historic houses are being transformed into sophisticated restaurants; and notable galleries are heralding the work of native talent. There has never been a better time to visit.

Funiculars have served Valparaíso since the late 1800s; ride one of these up the hills to look down at the colorful urban sprawl fringing the sea below. The port city is the cultural hub of Chile, poet Pablo Neruda once lived here, and the residents’ creative spirit manifests itself in the vibrant tones of the multihued homes and the bohemian murals tagging the walls.

Valparaíso is an intricate labyrinth. The best way of discovering it and reaching its identity is by entering its hills, alleys and most picturesque places. A guide will accompany and inform you while exploring and unfolding the city. You will experience the most typical places that are absolutely genuine, as well as the most famous part, known as the “World Heritage” area. Your guide will explain and show you the interesting lifestyle that exists in Valparaíso. Charming and magic places, its particular aesthetic, its neighborhoods and its people will be revealed.

Later, stop to visit to the city of Vina del Mar, a beautiful city on central Chile’s Pacific coast known for its gardens, beaches, and high-rise buildings. Its waterfront is ideal for outdoors sports, relaxation, and high-level cuisine. Walk through its manicured boulevards lined with palm trees, stately palaces, and beautiful parks, or stroll along the promenade. It is also home to the Quinta Vergara Amphitheater, the early 20th century Vergara Palace, and the Museum of Archaeology and History Franscisco Fonck, which features stone moai sculptures from Easter Island and shrunken heads.

Your guide will return you to your hotel early evening.

Check out this morning and say a fond farewell to Chile, your driver will transfer you to Santiago Airport to catch your departing flight.