Vin chilien : vallées, cépages et domaines à connaître
98 bouteilles, de 8,50 € à 136 € l'unitéA ripe Cabernet for under €10, a seaside Pinot Noir, an old-vine Cinsault to drink chilled: three wines with nothing in common, all from the same country. Between the Pacific and the cordillera, the wine-growing strip is never more than a hundred kilometres wide, yet it crosses desert, the great central plain and the forests of the south.
This page is a starting point: what each valley produces, what each grape variety is worth at the table, and where to find the bottles in the range.
Valdivieso - Caballo Loco n° 19 NV
Un grand assemblage chilien façonné par le temps. Profond, soyeux et singulièrement complexe.
Ways into the section
Vallée Centrale
The historic basin around Santiago, from Maipo to Maule. This is where you will find most of the everyday Cabernets and Carménères, but also cuvées for ageing.
Le coeur du paysColchagua
A wide, warm valley, open to the Pacific through a coastal gap. The stronghold of Viu Manent and the Apalta hillside, with ripe reds from €11.80 to over €60.
Rouges charnusAconcagua
At the foot of the highest peak in the Andes. Errazuriz makes Cabernets and Syrahs for ageing inland here, and taut whites on the Aconcagua Costa side.
Deux climatsCasablanca et Leyda
The seaside vineyards, under the morning fog and the cold afternoon wind. This is where to look for saline Sauvignons and fine Pinot Noirs.
Blancs de la côteItata
The country's oldest wine region, with old Cinsault and País vines, often ungrafted. Light, easy-drinking reds, far from the cliché of the powerful Chilean.
Vieilles vignesLimarí et Elqui
The semi-desert north, limestone in Limarí and up to two thousand metres of altitude in Elqui. Straight Chardonnays, fresh Pinots and Syrahs, the tautest wines in the range.
Le nord minéralCarménère
The Bordeaux grape variety that the country made its own after it disappeared in Europe. Roasted pepper, black fruit, smooth tannin: this collection brings together Carménères from every valley.
Cépage signatureMoins de 20 €
The part of the range that serves as weekday wine, from the Undurraga Chardonnay at €8.50 to reserve Carménères. The price filter gathers these bottles on one page.
Budget tenu
The Chilean valleys and their wines
The country can be read in two directions. From north to south, the climate goes from the edges of the Atacama to the rains of Araucanía. From west to east, each valley descends from the cordillera towards the Pacific, so that a single river gives mountain, plain and seaside wines. It is this second, transverse reading that explains the most in the glass.
| Vallée | Où c'est et ce qu'il y fait | Cépages qui s'y plaisent | What it means in the glass |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vallée CentraleMaipo, Rapel, Curicó, Maule | The historic basin around Santiago, hot and dry, cooled in the evening by air from the Andes | Cabernet sauvignon, carménère, chardonnay | Full, supple reds, most of the entry-level wines, and Maipo's Cabernets for ageing |
| Colchaguawith the Apalta hillside | Au sud-ouest de la capitale, large et ensoleillée, ouverte au Pacifique par une trouée côtière | Carménère, cabernet sauvignon, malbec | Ripe, fleshy reds, from everyday wines at €11.80 to Apalta cuvées above €55 |
| Aconcaguaet la façade Aconcagua Costa | Au nord de Santiago, sous le plus haut sommet du continent, fond de vallée chaud, littoral venté | Cabernet sauvignon, syrah, pinot noir, chardonnay | Errazuriz's reds for ageing inland, taut whites near the ocean |
| Casablanca et Leydawith San Antonio | À moins de vingt kilomètres du Pacifique, brouillard le matin, vent froid l'après-midi | Sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, pinot noir | Lively, saline whites, fine and tangy Pinots, never jammy |
| Itataet le vieux sud de Coelemu | Sols granitiques, vieilles vignes franches de pied menées en gobelet, sans irrigation | Cinsault, país, sémillon, carignan | Light, easy-drinking, peppery reds, textured whites made without artifice |
| Limarí et Elquile nord semi-désertique | On the edge of the Atacama, almost rainless, limestone in Limarí, high altitude in Elqui | Chardonnay, pinot noir, syrah, país | Straight, mineral whites, peppery Syrahs that stay fresh despite the latitude |
| Malleco et le grand sud | À plusieurs centaines de kilomètres au sud de la capitale, frais et pluvieux, saison courte | Pinot noir, chardonnay | Quelques cuvées confidentielles, acidité marquée et fruit croquant, comme le pinot de Baettig à 38 € |
Une étiquette chilienne superpose souvent trois échelles : le bassin, la sous-vallée et la mention Costa, Entre Cordilleras ou Andes. Un Aconcagua Costa et un Aconcagua tout court ne désignent ni le même vin, ni le même climat.
The right pairing for each style
These vineyards were long reduced to their sun-drenched reds. Our range tells a different story: the same country supplies seaside whites cut out for shellfish and old-vine reds that are drunk chilled. Here is how to spread the main styles across a meal, with prices per bottle.
| Le vin | What it brings to the glass | Sur quoi le servir |
|---|---|---|
| Carménèrede 9,40 € à 108 € | Fruit noir, poivron grillé, poivre et tanin fondu, alcool généreux | Côte de boeuf, chili con carne, aubergines rôties, cheddar affiné |
| Cabernet sauvignonMaipo, Colchagua, Aconcagua | Cassis, menthe, mine de crayon, tanin ferme qui réclame quelques années | Agneau rôti, entrecôte grillée, plats mijotés longuement en sauce |
| SyrahAconcagua, Elqui, Choapa | Olive noire, violette, poivre blanc, acidité nette quand elle vient du nord | Magret, brochettes d'agneau, légumes grillés au barbecue |
| Pinot noirCasablanca, Leyda, Limarí | Cherry, redcurrant, light tannin, saline finish in the coastal cuvées | Saumon grillé, volaille rôtie, charcuterie fine, thon mi-cuit |
| Cinsault et paísvieilles vignes d'Itata | Pale colour, crushed strawberry, very little tannin, to serve at around 14 °C | Empanadas, légumes à la plancha, jambon, fromages doux |
| ChardonnayLimarí, Leyda, Aconcagua Costa | Citrus, almond, limestone tension, discreet oak in the selected cuvées | Saint-Jacques, poisson en sauce blanche, volaille à la crème |
| Sauvignon blancLeyda et San Antonio | Agrume vert, buis, note iodée, acidité franche et finale nette | Huîtres, ceviche, chèvre frais, salade d'herbes |
| Blancs moelleux | Sémillon botrytisé ou vendange tardive, miel et coing, sucre porté par l'acidité | Foie gras, yellow-fruit tart, blue cheeses |
The country's reds do not take well to being served at the temperature of a heated home. Allow sixteen to eighteen degrees for a Cabernet, fourteen for a Cinsault from Itata, and decant young, tannic cuvées an hour beforehand.
Le pays qui a retrouvé son cépage perdu
Phylloxera never crossed the desert to the north or the cordillera to the east. So the vines still largely grow on their own roots, which has preserved plant material that has disappeared elsewhere. In 1994, a French ampelographer identified, in plots planted as Merlot, a Bordeaux grape variety that Europe had lost after 1870: Carménère. The country made it its signature, and today it is the best-represented grape variety in our range.
The other shift is recent. Estates have left the plains for the coast and for altitude, in search of freshness. The whites of Limarí and the Pinots of Leyda were born of this move.
Lire une étiquette du pays
Three terms matter. The name of the valley first. Then the suffix Costa, Entre Cordilleras or Andes, which indicates the position from west to east, and therefore the freshness. Finally the house hierarchy, from Reserva to Gran Reserva and then single-plot cuvées: it is governed by no common rule and varies from one producer to another.
L'équipe du Baroudeur du Vin
What people ask us about Chilean wines
Par quel vin chilien commencer ?
With a Carménère, the easiest way in: black fruit, supple tannin, nothing austere. The range offers them from €9.40 with the Santa Rita 120, and at around €16.80 with the Viu Manent Gran Reserva, which already shows what the grape variety gives when the vineyard is better sited.
What is the difference between a coastal wine and an Andean wine?
Distance from the ocean changes everything. Near the Pacific, the morning fog and cold wind delay ripening: the wines keep their acidity, with a saline touch. Towards the cordillera, the difference between day and night gives more concentrated reds with tight tannins. The valleys of Casablanca and Leyda illustrate the first case.
Que vaut vraiment une bouteille chilienne à moins de 15 € ?
It is the strong point of these vineyards. The big houses offer clean, fruity, faultless wines here, such as the Undurraga Chardonnay at €8.50 or the In Situ Reserva Carménère at €13.90. At this level, you are looking for immediate pleasure rather than ageing. The price filter sorts the range by bracket.
Why are some bottles sold only by the case or in packs?
It depends on what the supplier makes available. A good part of the range is offered in cases of six, sometimes in packs of two or three, while the rest is bought by the bottle. The available format appears on each wine's page, before you add it to your basket.
Combien de temps peut-on garder un vin chilien ?
The entry-level cuvées are drunk within two or three years, for their fruit. The selected reds last much longer: a Cabernet such as Santa Rita Casa Real at €136 or Errazuriz Don Maximiano at €128 easily keeps for ten to fifteen years. The Limarí whites will keep for five years.
Are there organic or biodynamic Chilean wines?
Yes, a small selection. Tarapacá offers a certified organic Gran Reserva at €20.90, Emiliana farms organically for its Ecobalance range, and Antiyal has been farming its vines biodynamically for a long time. Our organic wine range brings these bottles together with those from other countries, if you want to widen the comparison.
Vin chilien ou vin argentin, lequel choisir ?
The two countries share the cordillera but not the climate. Argentina plays on altitude and Malbec, with thick, velvety reds. Chile offers more contrasts, from saline seaside whites to light reds from old vines. For a rich dish, Argentina. For a fish meal, Chile.
Quelle bouteille chilienne offrir ?
Above €50, the country brings out its benchmark cuvées: Errazuriz Kai at €108, a Carménère for long ageing, Viu Manent El Incidente at €68, or Neyen Espiritu de Apalta at €79.40. For a more moderate budget, the Tabali Talinay Caliza Chardonnay at €52 often surprises those who do not know these vineyards.
How do you find the wines of a specific valley?
Chaque vallée bien représentée a sa page : Vallée Centrale, Colchagua, Aconcagua, Itata ou encore Limarí et Elqui.