Alto Maipo - Premium Cabernet territory

Experience Chile's most prestigious wine at Almaviva, the joint venture between Concha y Toro and Chateau Mouton Rothschild. This exclusive visit includes a guided tour of the state-of-the-art facility and tasting of the legendary Almaviva blend alongside its second wine, Epu.

What to do there

5 things to do

1. 1 Read the Polo Field That Beat Château Lafite History · Free

   This is where the story of Chilean wine becomes legend. You're standing on land that a Chilean patriarch converted from his championship polo field into the most controversial vineyard on earth — and 12 years later, a blind tasting in Berlin turned the wine world upside down.

   Where: Avenida Santa Rosa 821, Paradero 45, Puente Alto — the road running along the Puente Alto vineyard corridor, approximately GPS -33.628, -70.571. You can walk or cycle this avenue freely; Viñedo Chadwick's vines are visible from the road.

   What: In 1992, Eduardo Chadwick walked up to his 86-year-old grandfather Alfonso and asked if he could pull up the polo field. Alfonso had won 19 Chilean national polo Open Championships on this field — one shy of the Guinness World Record. He said yes. He died in 1993 before seeing a single harvest. Nine years later, at the Ritz-Carlton Berlin in January 2004, 36 European critics led by Steven Spurrier (the man who ran the Judgement of Paris) tasted 16 wines blind. Viñedo Chadwick 2000 came first. Seña 2001 came second. The wines that came third, fourth, fifth? Château Lafite 2000, Château Margaux 2000, Château Latour. A polo field in Puente Alto had beaten the first growths of Bordeaux.

   How: This is a free, drive-by or walk-by moment — there's no ticket required to stand on the public road at the edge of these vineyards. Face east: the Andes rise directly in front of you, from 600 m under your feet to over 6,000 m at the summit within a few kilometres. That temperature swing — 25°C afternoon, 8°C night — is exactly what makes the Cabernet grown here taste like nowhere else.

   Backup: If driving, park near the Metro Puente Alto station and take an Uber/taxi south on Avenida Santa Rosa for 10 minutes to reach the vineyard corridor. The Andes view alone is worth the trip.

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2. 2 Touch the Doors Made of Barrel Staves at Almaviva History · Price: high

   The most extraordinary winery in the southern hemisphere is a building whose roof curves like the Andes and whose doors are made from oak barrel staves. Inside, a Chilean architect named Martín Hurtado fused Patagonian hardwoods with Mapuche ritual symbols and Rothschild money — and the result is something you cannot build in Bordeaux.

   Where: Viña Almaviva, Avenida Santa Rosa 821, Paradero 45, Puente Alto, Santiago. GPS: -33.628, -70.571. Book via almavivawinery.com/visit-us — visits are by appointment only, no walk-ins.

   What: In 1997, Baroness Philippine de Rothschild (owner of Château Mouton Rothschild) and Eduardo Guilisasti (Concha y Toro) signed a joint venture. The first vintage was 1996; by 1998 it was already an international sensation. They built a bodega unlike anything else in Chile: architect Martín Hurtado gave it a roof whose undulating curves mirror the Andes peaks visible outside, used native Patagonian hardwoods inside modern steel, and placed Mapuche cultural symbols throughout the interior. The barrel room is panelled in wood. The front doors are assembled from oak barrel staves. On the Almaviva label, the word 'Almaviva' is written in Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais' own 18th-century handwriting (Count Almaviva is the hero of The Marriage of Figaro) surrounded by three Mapuche cultrun drum symbols. Chile and France, 5,000 years apart.

   How: Book the 'Almaviva Experience' — ~CLP 115,000/person (~USD 120). Tour covers vineyards, pressing room, fermentation tanks, maturing cellar, bottling room, then the tasting. Ask your guide to point out the Mapuche symbols specifically — most visitors walk past them. The 'Almaviva Vertical' (3 vintages + EPU, ~CLP 255,000/~USD 266) is exceptional if budget allows.

   Backup: If fully booked, Almaviva offers a waiting list via their website. Alternatively, the Almaviva Premium experience (3 wines, ~CLP 175,000/~USD 183) hits the key notes without the vertical depth.

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3. 3 Taste the Wine That Speaks Two Languages on the Same Label Wine · Price: high

   EPU means 'two' in Mapuche — the indigenous language of Chile. But this second wine of Almaviva does something rarer than its name: it delivers the same 650-metre Andean terroir as a €400 bottle, at a fraction of the price, made from the same 65 hectares of rock-poor alluvial soil that the Maipo River dragged down from the Andes over millions of years.

   Where: The tasting room at Viña Almaviva (same visit as Step 2). EPU is included in the standard Almaviva Experience tour.

   What: The Almaviva blend is ~71% Cabernet Sauvignon, ~22% Carménère (the grape France thought it had lost after phylloxera — found alive in Chile in 1994), ~5% Cabernet Franc, ~2% Petit Verdot. The 2021 scored 98 points with James Suckling; 96+ with Wine Advocate. But here's what nobody tells you: EPU ('two' in Mapuche) comes from the SAME fruit, the SAME 65 hectares of soil built from Andean rock debris. It's the juice that didn't make the grand vin cut — which in Puente Alto, at 650 m above sea level, still out-drinks 95% of the world's Cabernet.

   How: When the guide pours EPU alongside Almaviva, smell them side by side first. The Almaviva will hit blueberry, cardamom, lemongrass. EPU is more immediate — blackcurrant, cedar, a dusty mineral note that is literally Andean rock dust dissolved over millennia. Ask: 'What percentage Carménère is this vintage?' The answer changes year to year and tells you exactly how warm the growing season was.

   Backup: If you can't visit the winery, EPU is available in Santiago wine shops (ask for recent vintage, ~USD 35–50). Take it to the Cajón del Maipo viewpoint and drink it looking at the exact mountains that grew it.

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4. 4 Stand Inside the Geology That Makes This Wine Impossible Elsewhere Adventure · Free

   The soil under your feet at Puente Alto is not ordinary dirt. It's a million-year archive of the Andes — rocks, gravel and sandy loam dragged down by the Maipo River from peaks above 6,000 metres. Poor, dry, free-draining. The vines can barely survive it. That stress is exactly what creates the concentration. You can see, touch and understand the entire terroir story for free.

   Where: Cajón del Maipo canyon, accessed via the road continuing east from Puente Alto along the Maipo River. The canyon entrance is approximately 15 km east of Puente Alto; GPS approximately -33.645, -70.450 near the canyon mouth.

   What: This is the upstream source of the entire Alto Maipo wine story. The Maipo River born at 6,000 m in the Andes has been depositing rock, gravel and loam in terraced alluvial fans for millions of years — and the vineyards of Almaviva, Don Melchor and Viñedo Chadwick sit on the most perfectly positioned of these terraces, 650 m above sea level. In the canyon you can see the raw geological process: white Andean granite boulders, gravel fans, mineral-rich silt. Pick up a stone. That's the same material dissolved into the soil that's in your glass of Almaviva.

   How: Drive or take a bus/taxi east from Puente Alto along the Camino al Volcán. The first 10 km of canyon is free to enter. Walk the Cascada de las Ánimas trail (25 min round trip) to see Andean meltwater up close — the same water that feeds the drip irrigation system in Almaviva's vineyards. Free entry to the canyon road itself; Cascada de las Ánimas private nature sanctuary charges ~CLP 5,000/person (~USD 5).

   Backup: Even the roadside pullouts along the Cajón del Maipo road give excellent views of the alluvial terracing. No ticket needed — just stop the car, look east at the snow-capped Andes, look west at the vineyard terraces, and understand: the wine you just tasted is the geological meeting point between those two things.

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5. 5 Find the Winery Where a 1988 Vintage Changed Chile's Destiny Wine · Price: very high · Optional

   Don Melchor started as a winemaker's gamble in 1987 on a plot of land in Pirque where the Andes begin. The 1988 vintage became the first Chilean wine Wine Spectator declared among the world's best. The founding family built their summer house here in the 19th century. Today you can drink a vertical of six legendary vintages in the same rooms where it all began.

   Where: Casa Don Melchor, Casona de Pirque, Pirque, Maipo Valley — approximately 12 km south-east of Almaviva. GPS: approx. -33.660, -70.559. Book via donmelchor.com/en/experience — private visits only, groups up to 14.

   What: In 1883, Don Melchor Concha y Toro planted Bordeaux cuttings in Pirque at the foot of the Andes — the first serious attempt to grow world-class wine in Chile. In 1987, winemakers created the Don Melchor wine in tribute to him. The 1988 vintage landed in Wine Spectator's Top 100 best wines in the world — the first Chilean wine ever to do so. That single issue changed the trajectory of the entire Chilean wine industry. The Casona de Pirque is the original 19th-century summer residence of the Concha y Toro family, now a listed historical monument.

   How: Book the 'Don Melchor Vertical Tasting Experience' — six vintages all featured in Wine Spectator's Top 100, tracing the evolution from 1988 to present day. This is a private, sommelier-led experience with fine cheese pairings. Price: from ~USD 180/person (confirm at donmelchor.com). Book 4–6 weeks ahead — capacity is tiny by design. If you want the full theatre, the 'Winemaker for a Day' experience (7 hours, you blend from 7 individual Puente Alto parcels) is the most immersive wine experience in South America.

   Backup: If Don Melchor is fully booked, the Concha y Toro main winery in Pirque also offers guided tours with Don Melchor tastings at lower price points — book via conchaytoro.com. The legend is still poured; the setting is less intimate.

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Insider tips

• Reservations required well in advance - limited visits per day

• This is Chile's most expensive tasting - worth it for serious collectors

• Ask about vertical tastings if available