Two Traditional Wine Regions of Chile

TwoTraditional Wine Regions of Chile

By Gary Baker

Stretching 2900 miles from north to south, Chile offers some of the most diverse landscape on earth. Its temperate climate is chilled by daily breezes from the cold Pacific Ocean to the west and the towering Andes Mountains to the east.

Because of its physical isolation from the rest of the continent, there are very few vine diseases and pests, enabling a more organic approach to grape growing. The country’s grape growing conditions are ideal, while the cost of labor and vineyard land is reasonable. Today, Chile ranks sixth among wineproducing countries.

With grapevines planted by European immigrants in the 1600s, Chile has developed over the centuries into a diverse and well-stocked powerhouse of flavorful reds. Cabernet Sauvignon is Chile’s most planted grape. But Carmenére, all but forgotten in its Bordeaux homeland, is Chile’s signature grape. Other Bordeaux varieties have also found a home here.

These wines score highly in wine magazine ratings. Every year, a handful of stellar releases rank among the world’s best wines and yet remain a good value.

The Colchagua and Maipo Valleys are two large and historic grape growing regions in central Chile. The Colchagua Valley lies about 100 miles south of Santiago and benefits from an almost ideal Mediterranean climate. The Maipo Valley is on the southern outskirts of Santiago, north of Colchagua, but still offers a mild climate of warm days and cool nights.

Large corporate wineries dominate these regions but consistently deliver quality wine. In fact, Chiles’ largest winery, Concha y Toro, is located in the Maipo Valley. However, some of the oldest family-owned wineries still exist. So, if you go, here’s a mix of both for your enjoyment.

Viu Manent

The Viu family has been producing wines for more than 80 years through sustainable viticulture practices and continuously manage the oldest vineyards planted in the Colchagua Valley. A white walled, tiled roof fortress is your first impression when you arrive. But seated in the shade under ancient grape vines at an outdoor tasting table, your comfort level increases. It’s here that we sampled a selection of several delightful wines.

The 2014 Reserve Merlot, with aromas and flavors of plums and a soft, round finish, was particularly enjoyable. Tour of the vineyard, with guided tastings, are available aboard old horse-drawn carriages or electric bicycles. An arena for horse jumping events lies nearby on its spacious grassy fields.

The winery’s onsite restaurant, Rayuela, specializes in grilled meats and fish. The food and wine pairing provides a good opportunity to try more of Viu wine while enjoying a light lunch.

Neyen

With a large ranch house style, tiled roof adobe, fronted by a massive garden of beautiful white roses, Neyen provides an inviting setting. Its historic and rustically quaint bodega is one of the oldest in the Colchagua Valley. Juxtaposed to a large concrete, yet modern winemaking facility, the winery’s comfortable cellar tasting room is supported by massive wooden beams dating from the 1890s, and walls painted festively with faded grape clusters.

Today, Chile ranks sixth among wineproducing

We sampled the 2014 Spirit of Neyen, a classic blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Carmenére. With complex aromas of raspberry and black currant, the palate was fresh and elegant with smooth tannin in a persistent finish.

The winery encourages visitors to have lunch at its onsite restaurant or enjoy a field day tour of the Apalta Nature Reserve with a picnic basket prepared by the winery’s kitchen.

Vina Marquis

Among the lily padded ponds and vineyards, with grapevines tall enough that you can walk under, flora and fauna abound throughout Vina Marquis’ open habitat and winery grounds. At the confluence of two rivers in the Colchagua Valley, the flow of abundant water has sustained these vineyards for centuries. Originally founded and planted in the 16th century by Jesuit priests, the winery is owned and has been operated by the Hurtado family for four generations.

Today the wine is made in a huge modern facility using artisanal methods to let the wine express the characteristics and personality of the grapes. In a modern glass-enclosed tasting room, next to an art museum and lengthy barrel aging room, we sampled three reds and one rosé.

The 2016 Cabernet Franc was worth every one of the 90 points rating. With blackberry flavors on the palate it finished smoothly in spite of its sturdy tannin structure. No surprise as the winery is known for producing the first iconic cabernet franc from Chile.

Vina Santa Rita

This winery, founded in the 1880’s in the Maipo Valley, is part of the old town of Santa Rita. This heritage complex has close to 1,500 years of history.

The wine here reflects the vineyards that have been sustainably farmed for 135 years.

A luxury boutique hotel, Casa Real, stands in the midst of a 40-acre park and welcomes guests to the estate. At the winery entrance, two huge palm trees greet you alongside an impressively long white stanchioned portico that supports an endless tiled roof over the entire facility. A pedal bar tour of the winery’s outdoor, park-like setting, and vineyards is a fun and relaxing way to enjoy the grounds.

In the tasting room, enormous stone walls and giant wooden beams surround a well-lit, modern looking tasting counter. Although most Chilean wineries feature their red varietals and Vina Santa Rita has several, we tasted an exciting white.

The 2018 Sauvignon Blanc Central Valley 120 Reserva, with its well-defined flavors of blood orange and lemongrass in a slightly ripe style, is soft and spicy in the finish. Lattes, espressos and chocolates are available in La Panaderia Café which opens onto an outdoor dirt/ granite patio with umbrella shaded table seating.

Concha y Toro

Located in the Maipo Valley, Concha y Toro is Chiles’ largest winery. To make matters larger, in 1990, it formed a joint venture with Bordeaux’s Chateau Mouton-Rothchild to make fine wines that reflect the traditional characteristics of both France and Chile. The classically traditional, trellised entrance to the winery and Lourdes Estate grounds leads to formal columns of the yellow and white trimmed main house and garden fountain. Demonstration grapevines with small signs on them identify their varietal type and help visitors get acquainted easily with what is grown at this winery established in 1883.

A steep set of tiled steps leads down into the darkened Casillero Del Diablo, “the devil’s basement.” Surrounded by superstition and projected film images and, of course, some historical

Our tasting in the Casillero Del Diablo was guided by a sommelier and accompanied by a selection of fine cheeses paired specifically to the wines. A perennial top scorer, the Estate 2016 Puente Alto Cabernet Sauvignon-based red blend tasted like an elegant mix of dark fruit, and dried red fruit with herbal flavors. It had a minerally finish that was long and rich tasting.

The winery has a wine bar, wine shop and full restaurant. Additionally, it offers five different tasting tours so visitors can sample the huge, comprehensive selection of reserve, premier and ultra-premium wines made here.

Historic Regions for Classic Wines

As these tastings reveal, Chilean vintners are still finding success today by focusing on historic vineyards. These two singularly dominant wine regions continuously produce varietal products that have pleased the palates of wine lovers for decades. For now, some of the best Chilean varietals remain classics in the making – vibrant and expressive in character and reflective of their origins.

If you love to travel to taste good wines, then the traditional wine regions of Chile belong on your list.

Photos (opposite/clockwise): Sign for Rayuela Wine and Grill, Viu Manent’s onsite restaurant; Rayuela Restaurant in the shade under ancient grape vines at Viu Manent; Grape vines so tall you can walk underneath them at Vina Maquis; Serene lily ponds, along with plenty of other flora and fauna, grace the grounds of Vina Maquis; (This page/clockwise): Two palm trees flank the entrance to the winery; Horse jumping arena on Viu Manent’s grassy fields; Horse drawn wagon awaits visitors to tour the vineyard property at Viu Manent; Assortment of wines at Viu Manent All photos © Rebecca Sturges

Thailand is ideal for road tripping, thanks to excellent highway systems. With 1,200 miles from north to south and 2,000 miles of coast, road trip opportunities abound when exploring the ‘Land of Smiles’ lush countryside and beautiful shorelines.

One of my favourite road trips is Kanchanaburi City and Province just two hours west of Bangkok. ‘The Bridge Over the River Kwai’ book and movie introduced international audiences to this region. Both dramatized the construction of the Thai-Burma (Death) Railway during the Second World War.

This war history is reason enough to visit. Though look deeper into this enormous province for waterfalls, caves, lakes, hot springs, river rafting, jungle trekking, camping, canoeing, birdwatching, mountain biking, ancient Khmer ruins, impressive Buddhist temples, and much more. Kanchanaburi has it in abundance.

Kanchanaburi City

Kanchanaburi city sits at the confluence of the Khwae Noi and Khwae Yai rivers, and its riverside hotels and guesthouses make an ideal base. Note ‘Kwai’ as used in the book and movie titles is the anglicized version of Khwae.

Here are my recommendations within Kanchanaburi and branching out to provincial attractions.

Thai-Burma (Death) Railway

As the Asia Pacific component of WW2 continued, Japanese forces needed a safe and efficient land route from south-east Asia to its militaries in Burma and the Indian Ocean, thus avoiding allied navies. The construction of a 250-mile railway line from Bangkok to Rangoon in Burma (Myanmar) commenced in 1942 using an approximated workforce of over a quartermillion comprising conscripted locals and 140,000 British, Australian, Dutch and American prisoners of war (POW). Due to the enforced extreme working conditions, over 100,000 died in the railway’s construction - mainly of sickness, malnutrition and exhaustion: all buried in unmarked graves along the rail line.

I’d recommend first-time visitors check out the Thailand-Burma Railway Centre in Kanchanaburi city as this museum and research centre details the Death Railway’s construction while providing a sensitive appreciation of how thousands of POWs died.

Once finished, cross the road to the Kanchanaburi War Cemetery which contains the remains of 6982

Photos (top to bottom): Kanchanaburi War Cemetery; Bridge over River Khwae Yai late afternoon; Scenic Rail train crossing bridge over River Khwae Yai

Photos (top to bottom): Prasat Muang Singh Historical Park © Tourism Authority of Thailand; Hellfire Pass Museum © Tourism Authority of Thailand; Konyu Cutting @ Hellfire Pass Museum © Tourism Authority of Thailand Allied POWs. Poignantly, many of the gravestones are simply marked “Known Only To God.” A few miles away, the smaller Chungkai War Cemetery hosts a further 1750 Commonwealth and Dutch POWs resting in eternal peace.

Bridge Over The River Kwai & Scenic Railway

Kanchanaburi city is home to one of Thailand’s most famous, and perhaps most photographed bridges, the POW-built bridge spanning the River Khwae Yai. Time your visit for the Scenic Rail train crossing and use the ‘step off points’ on the bridge to view the train up close.

This Scenic Railway train travels a leisurely 40 miles out from Kanchanaburi through farmlands and villages along a restored section of the original Thailand-Burma line to Nam Tok station before returning. The train’s wooden bench seats and rusty old ceiling fans add to the character, though its open windows make for easy photography as it lumbers along.

A highlight is Saphan Tham Krasae Station where the train slows to a crawl as it crosses the precariouslooking cliff-side Wang Pho (or Death Valley) Viaduct. On one side, the sheer rock wall towers within touching distance, with a vertical drop down to the river and impressive views out the other side of the train. Many visitors alight here to explore Tham Krasae, a small cave while they wait for the return train. Alternately, you can catch (private or public) transport back.

Northwest of Kanchanaburi

Route 323, to Kanchanaburi’s northwest, loosely follows the Khwae Noi River and on to Three Pagodas Pass on the Thai-Burma border. You don’t need to travel that far to take in the stops I recommend.

Prasat Muang Singh Historical Park

Prasat Muang Singh Historical Park marked the western border of the vast Khmer Kingdom back in the 12th to 14th centuries. This restored archaeological site sits in a relaxed setting surrounded by open forest beside the Khwae Noi River. The central temples and surrounding structures are quite distinctive thanks to the rusty-red coloured laterite stones used in construction. A small museum exhibits several artefacts discovered on-site, including Buddha images. Here is ancient Khmer (Cambodian) history in the far west of Thailand and worth an hour or so of your time.

Hellfire Pass

Funded and managed by the Australian government, the Hellfire Pass Memorial Museum provides an opportunity to appreciate why Allied POWs named

During construction of the Death Railway, the workers needed to make numerous rock cuttings to lay track along steep mountain slopes. Konyu Cutting is the largest and, arguably, the most challenging stretch.

Many museum visitors only see the highly interactive and moving displays and associated viewpoint. Those taking the stairs down into the cutting discover a 120yard-long corridor, hewn 56-foot-deep into the rock. As you walk where tracks once laid reaching the end of this first passage, the serenity surrounds you. A sense of reverence you only feel in places of worship overtakes. In remembrance, some visitors leave flags and flowers along the cutting and commemorative plaque found at the end.

Sai Yok National Park

One further stop if time permits is Sai Yok National Park, twelve miles on from Hellfire Pass. The main attractions are Sai Yok Yai and Sai Yok Lek waterfalls, which plummet eight to ten metres into the river.

North of Kanchanaburi

Highway 3199 runs north from Kanchanaburi and east of the Khwae Yai river to Erawan National Park and onto Sri Nakharin Reservoir and surrounding national park.

Erawan National Park

Thirty-three miles from Kanchanaburi, the very popular Erawan National Park sprawls over 550 square miles of the Salop mountains. While bird watchers, orchid hunters and cave enthusiasts could keep busy within the park for weeks, most come specifically for Erawan Waterfall, a multi-tiered set of falls named after the divine three-headed god of the elephants.

The trail, from the start to the top tier is nearly 1 mile, with the first two tiers most easily accessible. Each level has emerald-green pools with swimming permitted. Freshwater minnow shoal in most pools, so sit still in the water and experience a free fish spa as they pick at your dead skin. As one of Thailand’s most popular, it’s impossible to avoid the crowds at Erawan Falls, so I recommend arriving early morning, avoiding weekends and national holidays.

Sri Nakharin National Park

Sri Nakharin Reservoir and national park is a further 28 miles on from Erawan and does make for a 125 mile round trip from Kanchanaburi. A key attraction is Huai Mae Khamin, a seven-tier waterfall flowing down some 1.1 miles of hillside blanketed in bamboo and banyan trees. Said to rival or better Erawan, without the crowds.

Photos (top to bottom): Huai Mae Khamin Waterfall at Sri Nakharin NP © Tourism Authority of Thailand; Erawan Waterfall Tier 1 at Erawan NP © Tourism Authority of Thailand; Earwan Waterfall Tier 3 at Erawan NP ©Michael Cullen; Opposite Page: Elephant Haven © Tourism Authority of Thailand.jpg

Ethical Elephant Encounters

Used in ancient time to carry kings and noble warriors into battle and until the 1980s to help clear forests for logging and other such labour, Asian elephants have long been part of life in this part of the world. Most recently, captured and trained elephants have been used for entertainment and carrying tourists trekking. Attitudes are changing, and Thailand has a growing number of sanctuaries where rescued elephants can now live without chains or saddles and the demands of a working life.

Visitors to these sanctuaries can learn about these gentle giants’ history and welfare. The Kanchanaburi region has two such shelters—Elephant World off Highway 3199 as you head to Erawan, and Elephant Haven off Route 323 just past Prasat Muang Singh Historical Park. Both offer either half-day, day or longer experiences where you assist these pachyderms in their daily life.

I’ve covered some of my Kanchanaburi highlights. With your own transport, there is so much more to see and experience as you road trip around this region.