Central valley

The Central Valley is divided into four subregions: the Maipo Valley, the Rapel Valley, the Curicó Valley and the Maule Valley. This is Chile’s most productive and internationally known wine region, due in large part to its proximity to the country’s capital, Santiago. It is located directly across the Andes from Argentina’s most well-known wine region, Mendoza Province. Maipo corresponds to the area surrounding the Maipo river. Cabernet Sauvignon dominates wine production here, but the area has also started producing Carménère wines. The region has rocky alluvial soils and is warm and dry requiring drip irrigation. The climate, cold during the night and sunny and hot during the day, combined with the poor, porous, rocky soil, puts the vines under stress which in turn produces a characteristically bold, elegant Cabernet Sauvignon. Towards the coast is an oceanic influence, it is a popular place to experiment with white grapes, most notably Sauvignon blanc. Colchagua Valley is one of the best-known wine regions of Chile. It occupies the southern part of Rapel Valley, running from the Andes in the east to the Coastal Range in the west. Most of the important Colchagua vineyards lie in the foothills of the Coastal Range. The area is best known for its full-bodied Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carménère and Syrah. Colchagua has a cool Mediterranean climate, with 592 mm rainfall, and soils of clay, sand and decomposed granite.

Chile, particularly the Central Valley, used to be known for producing wines made from Merlot grapes until 1994 when a team of French viticulturalists wondered why some of their grapes ripened at different times. After testing, they discovered that some of the vines were Carménère, a grape variety originating from Bordeaux that was thought to have been extinct. Since then, most of Chile’s Merlot grapes have been tested with many being identified as Carménère. Carménère’s style is characterised by ripe and spicy dark red fruits, with a soft velvety texture on the palate, soft tannins, and hints of black pepper accompanied with chocolate notes, or herbs and green capsicum pepper.