Maipo

Overview

Maipo Valley is the heart of Chile's premium wine industry, located just south of Santiago along the Maipo River. The valley is famous for its Cabernet Sauvignon, particularly from the Alto Maipo sub-zone at the foot of the Andes, where alluvial soils and high-altitude vineyards give wines elegance, structure, and distinctive herbal and mineral notes.

Maipo is also where Carménère was rediscovered in 1994, and the valley remains important for that variety. Historic producers such as Concha y Toro, Santa Rita, Cousiño-Macul, and modern icons including Almaviva and Viñedo Chadwick have made Maipo synonymous with Chile's finest red wines.

Key Varietals

• Cabernet SauvignonThe valley's flagship, producing structured, age-worthy reds with cassis and mint.
• CarménèreChile's signature grape, showing dark fruit, spice, and green pepper notes in Maipo's warm sites.
• MerlotA supple, plummy red widely planted throughout the valley floor.
• SyrahA spicy, full-bodied red that gains complexity from Maipo's gravelly Andean soils.