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Drinking from the Roots of the Andes in Chile's Cachapoal Valley

This week, Jaunted Special Contributor Eric Rosen continues his worldwide wine wanderings south of the equator in the Andean foothills of Chile, visiting some of the biggest names in its famous Colchagua and Rapel Valleys. So start looking for a bottle of Carmenere in your grocery store, and join us as we taste through the wines of Chile. Salud!

Yesterday we drank at a breakneck pace through the famous wineries of Chile’s Colchagua Valley. We spend today tasting at a more leisurely clip in one of Chile’s newest wine regions: the Cachapoal Valley.

· A Valley By Any Other Name…
To call Cachapoal (pronounced cah-chah-poh-all) Chile’s newest wine region, though, is a little misleading since it’s actually a part of one of the country’s other famous appellations, the Rapel Valley. However, the conditions here are distinct enough from the rest of the Rapel thanks to its proximity to the Andes and its lack of maritime influences from the Pacific that it was given its own denomination.

Thus, it’s well known for producing rich red wines, especially Cabernet Sauvignon and some of the country’s most prized Carmeneres. The nearest major town is Rancagua, notorious for a bloody 19th-century massacre during Chile’s war of independence.

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Wine Travel / Chile Travel / Santiago Travel / Drinking Travel / South America Travel / → All Tags

Skipping Out on Santiago for Casa Silva in Chile's Colchagua Valley

This week, Jaunted Special Contributor Eric Rosen continues his worldwide wine wanderings south of the equator in the Andean foothills of Chile, visiting some of the biggest names in its famous Colchagua and Rapel Valleys. So start looking for a bottle of Carmenere in your grocery store, and join us as we taste through the wines of Chile. Salud!

Don’t get us wrong. We love Santiago cosmopolitan charms, but when we head down to Chile, we like to get out of the city as soon as possible and head to the hinterlands to taste one of the country’s most famous exports (no, not copper): wine.

That’s why, on a recent trip, we started tasting from LAN’s sommelier-assembled list as soon as we boarded our flight, then when we hit the ground, we headed an hour-and-a-half south from Santiago to the country’s famous Colchagua Valley, focusing on the area between the two major towns of San Fernando and Santa Cruz and stopping at some of the biggest names in Chilean winemaking along the way.

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