Traditional Chilean curanto with wine

Explore the historic Santa Rita estate, where 120 patriots hid from Spanish forces during Chile's independence war. Beyond acclaimed wines, the property houses the exceptional Museo Andino with pre-Columbian artifacts, and the restaurant serves traditional Chilean cuisine.

What to do there

6 things to do

1. 1 Stand in the Cellar That Saved Chilean Independence History · Price: low

   On March 19, 1818, 120 soldiers of Chile's liberation army fled a catastrophic night attack at Cancha Rayada — O'Higgins wounded, all artillery lost, independence seemingly finished. Three days later they were hiding underground, right here. The Spanish came searching. The owner blocked them with a burning brazier and refused to move. Three weeks after that, the patriots took their revenge at the Battle of Maipú and Chile was free. This cellar is a Chilean National Monument.

   Where: Bodega de los 120 Patriotas (Patriots Cellar), Viña Santa Rita, Camino Padre Hurtado 695, Alto Jahuel, Buin. GPS: -33.6472, -70.6645. 45 minutes south of Santiago via Highway 5.

   What: The actual underground cellar where 120 Chilean independence soldiers hid after the Battle of Cancha Rayada on March 19, 1818. Declared a Chilean National Monument. The cellar is still used for wine aging today — you'll be surrounded by barrels in the same space that sheltered men who changed a country's history. The label '120' on every bottle of Santa Rita's entry wine is named for these soldiers.

   How: Book any Santa Rita tour to access the cellar. Classic Tour: CLP 27,000/person (~USD 28), runs Tues–Sun in English at 10:00 and 14:45. Duration 1h15m. Book via reservastour@santarita.cl or +56 2 2362 2590. Ask your guide specifically to stop at the plaque commemorating Doña Paula Jaraquemada — the woman who blocked Spanish soldiers with a burning brazier and refused entry.

   Backup: If the classic tour is sold out, the Premium Tour (CLP 59,000/~USD 60) includes the same cellar access plus four Ultra Premium wine pairings.

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2. 2 Decode 11,500 Years of Andean Civilizations for Free History · Free

   The Museo Andino on the Santa Rita estate holds 3,000+ pre-Columbian artifacts donated by collectors Ricardo Claro and María Luisa Vial — and admission is completely free. Rooms cover Rapa Nui, Diaguitas, Arica, San Pedro de Atacama, and Mapuche cultures. The Inca gold room alone warrants the 45-minute drive from Santiago.

   Where: Museo Andino, Viña Santa Rita estate, Camino Padre Hurtado 695, Alto Jahuel, Buin. GPS: -33.6472, -70.6645. The museum building is on the winery grounds — follow signs from the main entrance.

   What: 3,000+ artifacts from pre-Columbian Chile in a modern building with bilingual (Spanish/English) texts. The collection was donated to Fundación Claro Vial in 2006 to make it permanently public. Highlights: the Inca gold room (jewelry and metalwork), Easter Island stonework, Atacama textiles that survived 1,000+ years in the desert, Mapuche silver adornments. The altitude context is everything — you're standing 518m above sea level, looking at objects made by people who lived above 4,000m.

   How: Free admission, no reservation required. Open Tues–Sun 10:30–18:00 (closed Mondays). Guided tours in English available. Budget 45–60 minutes. Can be visited independently of the wine tour.

   Backup: If the museum is temporarily closed (rare), the 40-hectare centenary park and neo-Gothic chapel are accessible with any tour ticket.

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3. 3 Find the Roman Baths Hidden in a 19th-Century Andean Park Adventure · Price: low

   Domingo Fernández Concha built his wine empire and then hired French landscape gardener Guillaume Renner to design 40 hectares of parkland directly beneath the Andes. In the middle of these grounds — between ancient sequoias, palm trees, a boxwood labyrinth, a lagoon with black-necked swans, and sculptures — sits a Pompeian-style Roman bath house. Built in the 1880s. Still standing. Most visitors walk past it entirely.

   Where: Centenary Park, Viña Santa Rita estate. The Roman baths are located mid-park, accessible on foot from the main estate path. Included in all winery tour tickets (from CLP 27,000/~USD 28).

   What: A 19th-century Pompeian-style bath house built by winemaker Domingo Fernández Concha in the 1880s — the same decade he was importing Cabernet Sauvignon cuttings from Bordeaux and fundamentally changing Chilean wine. The park also has a neo-Gothic chapel designed by German architect Theodor Burchard with Norman arches, stained-glass windows, and a painted vaulted ceiling. The black-necked swan lagoon is 50m from the chapel.

   How: After your tour, stay in the park and walk toward the lagoon. Ask any Santa Rita staff member 'donde están los baños romanos' — they'll point you through the trees. Allow 30–45 minutes to explore. The view northeast from the highest park point frames the full Andean snowpack — the same glaciers whose meltwater runs through these vineyards.

   Backup: If you're short on time, at minimum walk to the neo-Gothic chapel — the architecture and the vine-framed mountain backdrop is the single best photograph on the property.

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4. 4 Taste the Cabernet That Tastes Like Andean Geology Wine · Price: moderate

   Alto Maipo grows Cabernet Sauvignon on colluvial soils — rocks dragged down by gravity from the Andes over millennia, not river deposits. The result is a wine with graphite minerality and violet florals that no Bordeaux can replicate, because no Bordeaux is watered by glacier melt laced with volcanic carbonates and sulfates. The Premium Tour is where Santa Rita stops holding back.

   Where: Santa Rita Premium Tour, underground aging cellar and tasting room, Viña Santa Rita estate. GPS: -33.6472, -70.6645.

   What: Four Ultra Premium wines (Gran Reserva tier and above) tasted with charcuterie, fine cheese, and olives. The tasting takes place in the historic underground cellars — the same subterranean space that was carved into the Andean hillside in the 1880s. Ask for Casa Real Cabernet Sauvignon specifically — it's Santa Rita's icon wine, made from Alto Jahuel vineyards at 518m ASL, and it will show you what colluvial Andean gravel does to a vine.

   How: Premium Tour costs CLP 59,000/person (~USD 60). Book in advance: reservastour@santarita.cl or +56 2 2362 2590. English tour departs 10:00 and 14:45, Tues–Sun. Duration approximately 1h45m with tasting. Includes engraved wine glass and wooden board as souvenirs.

   Backup: Classic Tour (CLP 27,000/~USD 28) includes the same cellar with 3 wines. Less food pairing, but the underground experience and the story is identical.

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5. 5 Eat Chile's Oldest Dish Paired with the Wine It Inspired Wine · Price: moderate

   Curanto is 11,500 years old. Archaeological evidence from Chiloé Island shows this exact cooking method — shellfish and meat steam-cooked over heated stones in a pit sealed with giant nalca leaves — dates to the first humans who settled South America. Today Doña Paula Restaurant serves its mainland adaptation (pulmay, or curanto en olla) inside a colonial mansion at the foot of the Andes. You're eating the same flavors those first inhabitants tasted, with Andean Cabernet to bridge the millennia.

   Where: Restaurante Doña Paula, Viña Santa Rita estate, Camino Padre Hurtado 695, Alto Jahuel, Buin. GPS: -33.6472, -70.6645. Inside the estate, in a 19th-century adobe colonial mansion.

   What: Three-course set lunch menu featuring traditional Chilean cuisine. The pulmay (curanto en olla) is the dish to order — layered clams, mussels, longaniza sausage, chicken, milcao potato bread, and chapalele dumplings, steam-cooked together in a sealed pot, served with its own concentrated broth. The wine pairing to request: a medium-bodied Santa Rita Merlot or their entry-level 120 Cabernet for the red lovers, or ask the sommelier for a crisp estate white to take the broth and brine.

   How: Open Tues–Sun, 13:00–16:00. Reservation required: +56 2 2362 2590 or email gastronomia@santarita.cl. Approx. CLP 35,000–50,000/person for 3-course lunch with wine (~USD 35–50). Best combined with the winery tour earlier in the day — book the 10:00 English tour, which leaves you arriving at lunch perfectly. Described by Chilean food critics as the best restaurant outside Santiago.

   Backup: Café La Panadería on the same estate offers casual lunch if Doña Paula is full — lighter menu, same estate setting and views.

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6. 6 Descend into the Cellar Where the Devil Lives — at Night Adventure · Price: high · Optional

   Fifteen minutes from Santa Rita, Chile's most visited winery runs a night experience that has won Chile's top wine tourism award two years running. Founder Don Melchor de Concha y Toro started the legend himself: when his best wines kept disappearing, he spread word that the devil lived in his cellar. It worked. Now you can go meet him — guided through the underground cellar under the stars of Pirque by the mysterious 'Don Isidro', tasting four wines as the story builds.

   Where: Concha y Toro Winery, Av. Virginia Subercaseaux 210, Pirque (15 minutes from Alto Jahuel). GPS: -33.6356, -70.5740.

   What: The Casillero del Diablo Night Tour — awarded 1st place Best Wine Tourism Experience Metropolitan Region, Enoturismo Chile 2024. Experience begins with sparkling wine in the gardens, then guided storytelling through the historic underground cellar as the devil legend unfolds, concluding with a four-wine tasting of Casillero del Diablo's premium range and a three-course dinner at Bodega 1883 Restaurant. The 12,000m² Centro del Vino opened in 2025 adds a Casillero del Diablo Sensory Experience (multisensory/interactive) before the cellar descent.

   How: Night Tour price approximately CLP 73,000–100,000/person (~USD 75–105). Book via conchaytoro.com or +56 2 2476 5000. The day-tour Centro del Vino Premium Tour runs from ~CLP 73,000 for those who prefer the afternoon option. Address for GPS: Virginia Subercaseaux 210, Pirque — this is 15 minutes by car from Viña Santa Rita if combining both in one day.

   Backup: If the night tour is booked, the daytime Centro del Vino Premium Tour includes the same underground cellar access with 10 wine tastings in 165 minutes for CLP 80,000.

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Insider tips

• Book the "Heroes' Cellar" tour to see where the patriots hid

• The Museo Andino collection rivals major national museums

• Stay for lunch at Doña Paula restaurant (excellent Chilean cuisine)