Santiago - Gateway to Chilean wine

Chile's cosmopolitan capital offers easy access to the Maipo Valley wine country, just 45 minutes away. The city itself boasts excellent wine bars in neighborhoods like Bellavista and Lastarria, serving as the perfect launch point for exploring Chile's premium wine regions.

What to do there

5 things to do

1. 1 Climb the 15-Million-Year-Old Volcano Where Chile Was Born History · Free

   Cerro Santa Lucía is a stub of ancient volcanic rock, 69 metres above the surrounding city. The Mapuche called it Huelén — their word for pain or melancholy. On December 13, 1540, Pedro de Valdivia climbed it and renamed it for a saint. Two months later, on February 12, 1541, he founded Santiago at its base. The whole city grew from this hill.

   Where: Cerro Santa Lucía, central Santiago. Enter from the main gate at Calle Santa Lucía and La Alameda (near Santa Lucía Metro, Line 1). Sign the entry registry — it's required but takes 30 seconds.

   What: You're standing on a 15-million-year-old volcano. The Mapuche people named it Huelén, meaning pain or melancholy — nobody recorded why. When conquistador Pedro de Valdivia climbed it on December 13, 1540, he chose to rename it for Saint Lucy (feast day that day, patroness of sight — useful for surveillance). Sixty-two days later, on February 12, 1541, he founded the city of Santiago at this hill's base. The entire modern capital of Chile radiates outward from where you're standing. The Spanish built on top of an existing Inca administrative center connected to the Inca Road network — three civilizations, one hill.

   How: Open daily 9am–7pm, free admission. Walk up the winding path (15 minutes) to the Terraza Caupolicán for the full panoramic view — on clear days you see the Andes snowpack that feeds the Maipo Valley's rivers and irrigates its vineyards. Best at golden hour when the Andes turn pink.

   Backup: If the upper terrace is crowded, the fountain plazas on the lower slopes offer the same historical weight with fewer people. The hill is small enough to circle on foot in 30 minutes.

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2. 2 Read the 1541 Foundation of Wine Country at Plaza de Armas History · Free

   Every city founded by the Spanish Crown followed the same blueprint: a central plaza surrounded by the cathedral, the governor's house, the courthouse, and the jail. Santiago's Plaza de Armas, laid out in 1541, was also the birthplace of Chilean wine — Pedro de Valdivia ordered the first vines planted here in 1548. By 1551, the first harvest in Santiago yielded, according to records, 'enough for two bottles of wine.' Those two bottles started an industry.

   Where: Plaza de Armas, downtown Santiago (Metro: Plaza de Armas, Line 5). The open square is the geographical and symbolic heart of the city.

   What: This exact ground was an Inca administrative center connected to the Inca Road network before the Spanish arrived. Valdivia's master builder Pedro de Gamboa laid out the colonial grid in 1541, placing the cathedral, governor's house, and jail around the square. By 1548, Valdivia ordered grapevines brought north from Coquimbo. Three years later, in 1551, a farmer named Alonso Moreno harvested the first grapes in Santiago — enough for two bottles. The Maipo Valley now produces Cabernet Sauvignon that Baroness Philippine de Rothschild chose for a joint venture (Almaviva, launched 1997). From two bottles to a Rothschild partnership in 450 years.

   How: Free, always open. Stand in the center and look south — in 1541, that direction was vineyards stretching toward the Andes. Now it's a city of 8 million people. Walk around the Metropolitan Cathedral (late 18th century), note the Pedro de Valdivia statue on horseback, and appreciate that you're standing on Inca road infrastructure.

   Backup: The Museo Histórico Nacional on the east side of the plaza has free admission and houses colonial-era wine vessels alongside the full story of Chile's conquest — worth 30 minutes.

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3. 3 Taste the Grape That Was Extinct for 127 Years at Bocanáriz Wine · Price: moderate

   In 1994, a French scientist visiting Chilean vineyards noticed something wrong. The 'Merlot' didn't look like Merlot. He ran the analysis. It was Carménère — a Bordeaux variety that the phylloxera plague had wiped off the earth in the 1860s. For 127 years, everyone assumed it was gone. It had been hiding in Chile, mislabeled, fermenting quietly in vats labeled 'Merlot.' Chile's Agriculture Department officially recognized it in 1998. Today Bocanáriz, Chile's only Wine Spectator Award of Excellence winner (2023), pours it in a flight designed to make the story visceral.

   Where: Bocanáriz, José Victorino Lastarria 276, Barrio Lastarria, Santiago. Three-minute walk from Cerro Santa Lucía. Reservations recommended (+56 9 3911 0332 or bocanariz.cl).

   What: Ask for the 'Varieties to Discover' or 'Iconic Chilean Wines' three-wine flight and specifically request Carménère in the flight. Every staff member is a sommelier (this is not a marketing claim — it's policy). When the wine arrives, ask them to compare it to a Chilean Merlot so you can taste the difference that was invisible for 127 years: Carménère is deeper purple, has a distinctive green pepper note (pyrazine), and a velvety texture that sets it apart from Merlot's softer fruit. The sommelier will tell you which Carménère in the glass came from which valley. The 'Extreme Vineyards' flight is the other essential order — high-altitude and coastal edge producers that make you understand Chile's range.

   How: 300+ Chilean wines by bottle, 36 by the glass; wine flights each contain 3 glasses and come with sommelier explanation. Hours: Mon–Wed 12:30–23:00, Thu–Fri 12:30–00:00, Sat 13:00–00:30. The underground 1920s cellar is available for small tastings. Budget CLP $25,000–$40,000 per person (~$25–45 USD) for a flight plus food.

   Backup: Santiago Wine Club Lastarria (Rosal 386, two minutes away) specializes in independent and terroir-focused wineries — excellent for bottle purchases and impromptu pours if Bocanáriz is full.

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4. 4 Tour the Winery Santiago Swallowed Whole — Cousiño Macul Since 1856 Wine · Price: moderate

   In 1856, Matías Cousiño bought 1,000 hectares of Hacienda Macul southeast of Santiago. The family planted vines, built century-old cellars, and made wine. By 1994, Santiago had expanded to completely surround the estate. The city swallowed a 1,000-hectare winery whole. Cousiño Macul is now an urban winery — the only 19th-century Chilean winery still in the founding family's hands — and you can tour its 1920-era cellars without ever leaving city limits.

   Where: Viña Cousiño Macul, Avenida Quilín 7100, Peñalolén, Santiago. Take Metro Line 4 to Quilín Station, then walk 1.7km or take a short bus to the winery entrance.

   What: You're walking through a working winery that exists inside a modern city of 8 million people. The cellar stones date to the 1920s; the founding family has made wine here since 1856. The standard tour takes you through the cellars and vineyards within the estate, ending with a tasting of 3 wines in the Macul Garden — with Andes views from inside a city. Ask specifically to taste the Antiguas Reservas Cabernet Sauvignon, the estate's flagship since the early 20th century. In the 1960s and 1970s, Cousiño Macul was the most exported Chilean wine in the world.

   How: Tour price CLP $48,000–$50,000 (~$50–55 USD) per person, ~1h45m. Book through cousinomacul.com or arrive at the Sala de Ventas (Sales Room). Open for tours most days — confirm times on their website. The Premium Tour (~CLP $65,000) includes cheese and wine pairing with Andes views in the garden.

   Backup: If fully booked, the estate's wine shop (Sala de Ventas) at the entrance sells bottles and does informal pours — you can still experience the urban winery atmosphere without the full tour.

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5. 5 Descend Into the Devil's Cellar at Concha y Toro Adventure · Price: moderate · Optional

   More than a century ago, Don Melchor Concha y Toro noticed his prize wine bottles were disappearing from his personal cellar. He tried locks. The thefts continued. So he spread a rumor: the devil himself inhabited that cellar. The story worked. No more bottles disappeared. The cellar became known as the Casillero del Diablo — Devil's Locker. The brand now sells over 14 million cases a year worldwide. And you can walk into that original cellar, in Pirque, 45 minutes from Santiago.

   Where: Viña Concha y Toro, Virginia Subercaseaux 210, Pirque (45 min from Santiago). GPS: -33.635605, -70.574019. Uber/taxi ~CLP $20,000–$30,000 each way, or book a guided tour with hotel pickup through Viator/GetYourGuide.

   What: The tour begins in the 22-hectare centennial park around the Don Melchor House, then moves into the Casillero del Diablo Sensory Experience — a theatrical staging of the devil legend in the actual underground cellars. The guides turn off the lights at one point. The wine you taste at the end — the premium Cabernet from Puente Alto — is what Don Melchor was protecting. The same rocky Andean soils, 400–760m elevation, semiarid Mediterranean climate that produces Cabernet with that characteristic mint note and decades-long aging potential. Almaviva, the Rothschild-Concha y Toro joint venture, also comes from this sub-region.

   How: New Centro del Vino open from May 2025. Tours daily 9am–6pm (confirm hours on conchaytoro.com). Prices: CLP $50,000–$100,000 (~$55–$110 USD) depending on tour tier. Book 24h+ in advance through their website or Viator for guaranteed cancellation policy. The tour is 2–3 hours including transport time from Santiago.

   Backup: If you can't reach Pirque, Concha y Toro's wines are available at Bocanáriz in the city — ask the sommelier to pour the Don Melchor Cabernet ($50+ glass) and tell you the Casillero del Diablo story over the wine.

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Insider tips

• Stay in Providencia or Lastarria for walkable wine bars and restaurants

• Bocanariz in Lastarria offers exceptional by-the-glass Chilean wine flights

• The Mercado Central is excellent for seafood paired with Chilean whites