Maipo Valley – famous wine growing region in Chile

Here was born the bottle of wine – especially Cabernet Sauvignon that even the winemakers of France have to admire.

The Maipo Valley is located south of the capital Santiago in the main important wine-producing region of Chile. Topographically, the Maipo valley is separated by the Coastal Range from the Pacific Ocean and to the east by the Andes.

The Maipo Valley was one of the first places in South America to grow grapes and produce wine, which was brought to the continent by European immigrants in the Age of Discovery. At first, grapes were planted sporadically and sporadically around the capital Santiago, and it was not until the early years of the 19th century that they really began to grow and bloom.

Chilean grape growers have selected and brought the finest French grape varieties to Chile with the ambition of building a new style of wine. Famous and long-standing vineyards that still play an extremely important role in the Chilean wine industry include Cousino Macul, Concha Y Toro and Santa Rita.

Alto Maipo

The Upper Maipo, also known as Upper Maipo, rises to 760m above sea level on the eastern side of the Andes. Because of that altitude, Alto Maipo has a large temperature difference between day and night, making grapes grown here often take longer to ripen. This results in longer grapes – reducing yields but balancing the acidity and sugar levels in the grapes for excellent produce.

In addition, the soil here is also mostly rocky, making it very difficult for grapes grown here to get enough nutrients and water – making the grapes smaller but full of minerals and dense. Because of that great nature, this rough land is home to the headquarters of leading Chilean wineries such as Almaviva, Vinde Chadwick and Don Melchor.

Central Maipo

Central Maipo has a lower elevation and surrounds the towns of Buin and Paine. The grapes grown here enjoy fertile soils and a warmer climate, resulting in very high yields – especially the Cabernet Sauvignon and Chile’s indigenous Carmenere.

Finally, Maipo Bajo defeated Meipo

The region is located between the two towns of Isla de Maipo and Talagante. This place is flat, the area is large and the traffic is more convenient, so the wineries focus on developing instead of growing grapes. A large number of Chilean producers concentrated in this region operate in a way that collects grapes from vineyards all over Chile and centralizes production. The most famous in the area are probably two firms De Martino and Undurraga.