Chile’s narrow band of land between the high Andes and the crashing Pacific Ocean makes for a unique wine region. The opportunity to achieve great quality is excellent. Try a wine from Chile and judge for yourself. Chile’s wine industry seems to be in the middle of all sorts of soul searching as it tries to pick exactly the right strategy to compete in what is a world market. Thankfully the one thing all the producers seem to agree on is the pursuit of quality.

So while they worry about the Australians and the French and the Californians, we UK consumers can take advantage of some superb wine at reasonable prices. Prices that may go up in the future, according to the result of the above debate!

Chile is superbly equipped for quality wine production.
First of all there is experience. It shouldn’t be forgotten that Chile’s wine industry began in the 1850s, founded by wealthy landowners who built and modelled their estates on the famous Bordeaux Chateaux. Most of the early estates were created in the Maipo Valley, close to the capital Santiago, still the heart of the modern wine industry. That start meant that the early planting and expertise was with the traditional Bordeaux grapes, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc.

The wines in these traditional styles have always been a bit of a mixture of Old and New World qualities with perhaps less of New World power and more of the Old World elegance. The location is the second big advantage of south western coast of South America, Chile has ideal conditions for growing wine grapes. With the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Andes Mountains towering to the east, Chile remains fairly isolated from the rest of the continent. Fortunately for wine producers, the Andes trap in just enough moisture for proper grape growing and also to keep out the phylloxera louse and other diseases that have affected the rest of the world. The predictable long, dry summers and cool winters make ideal growing conditions and provide for consistent vintages from year to year. The major grape-producing areas are located in Chile’s Central Valley.