Maipo Province ( es, Provincia de Maipo) is one of six provinces in the Santiago Metropolitan Region of central Chile. Its capital is San Bernardo.

Administration

As a province, Maipo is a second-level administrative division of Chile, governed by a provincial delegate who is appointed by the president.

Communes

The province is composed of four communes ( Spanish: ''comunas''), each governed by a municipality consisting of an

alcalde Alcalde (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor, the presiding officer of the Castilian '' cabildo'' (the municipal council) a ...

and municipal council: * Buin * Paine * San Bernardo, capital *

Calera de Tango Calera de Tango is a Chilean commune in the Maipo Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region. Demographics According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Calera de Tango spans an area of and has 18,235 inhabitants (9,243 men and ...

Geography and demography

The province spans an area of , making it the second smallest province in the Santiago Metropolitan Region. According to the 2002 census, Maipo was the third most populous province in the region with a total population of 378,444. At that time, there were 336,198 people living in urban areas, 42,246 living in rural areas, 187,789 men, and 190,655 women.

Maipo Valley wine region

Maipo Valley is the closest Chilean wine region to Santiago, the capital city of Chile. It extends eastwards from the city to the Andes and westward to the coast, stretching south toward the towns and subzones of Padre Hurtado, Peñaflor,

Talagante Talagante () is a commune and the capital city of the province of the same name in the Santiago Metropolitan Region of central Chile. The word ''Talagante'' in Quechua comes from ''talacanta'', meaning "Lazo de Hechicero", which was the proper na ...

Isla de Maipo Isla de Maipo is a town and commune of the Talagante Province in central Chile's Santiago Metropolitan Region. Geography Isla de Maipo can be found in the Chilean Central Valley approximately southwest of the metropolitan area of Santiago and ab ...

and Melipilla. The valley includes over 7,302 acres (2,955 ha) of vineyards, more than half of which are dedicated to producing

Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebanon' ...

or Cabernet blends. It is a historic wine-producing region and the birthplace of the

Chilean wine industry Chilean wine has a long history for a New World wine region, as it was the 16th century when the Spanish conquistadors brought '' Vitis vinifera'' vines with them as they colonized the region. In the mid-19th century, French wine varieties ...

, with vines growing there for the past 150 years. The Maipo Valley can be divided in three sub-regions: Alto Maipo, Central Maipo, and Pacific Maipo. ;Alto Maipo The Alto Maipo sub-region is located in the foothills of the Andes, rising from 400

m.a.s.l. Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The com ...

to 800 m.a.s.l. (1,300 to 2,600 feet), and is strongly influenced by the mountainous climate. The mountains make the zone particularly good for viticulture because they produce a great variation in temperature between day and night. This is because the sun must first rise above the Argentinean side of the Andes before reaching the western Chilean slopes, creating cold mornings, and then sets on the western side, leading to hot, sunny afternoons. The climate, combined with the poor, porous and rocky soil, puts the vines under stress which in turn produces a characteristically bold, elegant Cabernet Sauvignon. ;Central Maipo: The area surrounding the Maipo River is one of the oldest winemaking areas in Chile and was the first part of the Maipo Valley to be settled.

dominates production, but the region has also started producing Carmenere wines. Central Maipo is the warmest and driest of the three Maipo Valley sub-regions, with rocky alluvial soils and less rainfall than the Alto Maipo and Pacific Maipo, requiring drip irrigation. Vineyards are often planted along the Maipo River, an area known for its alluvial soils. ;Pacific Maipo: Pacific Maipo is the youngest wine-producing area in the Maipo Valley and there are relatively few vineyards found in the vicinity of the Maipo River. Grapes grown in this region benefit from the coastal influence of the Pacific Ocean as well as the alluvial soils also found in the area. Red wines from Pacific Maipo have a refreshing, natural acidity from the influence of the ocean. The vineyards in this area tend to be tucked up against some of the smaller, low-lying hills that rise between the Andes and the Coastal Range so that they are protected from the harsh winds coming off the coast.Maipo Valley Wine
Published by Wine-Searcher.com , Last updated 30-Aug-2013 by Wine-Searcher Staff retrieved October 08, 2013 Because of the region’s coastal influence, Pacific Maipo is also a popular place for experimentation with the country’s white varieties, most notably

Sauvignon Blanc is a green-skinned grape variety that originates from the Bordeaux region of France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French words ''sauvage'' ("wild") and ''blanc'' ("white") due to its early origins as an indigenous grape in ...

Grape distribution by varietal

* Climate: Mediterranean, 315 mm (12.4 in) annual rainfall. * Soils: Sandy and gravel to the east, more clay to the west. * Primary grape varietals:

, Carmenere, and

Syrah Syrah (), also known as Shiraz, is a dark-skinned grape variety grown throughout the world and used primarily to produce red wine. In 1999, Syrah was found to be the offspring of two obscure grapes from southeastern France, Dureza and Mondeuse B ...

. * Total Hectares planted: 12,955 ha (7,302 acres)See Maipo Valley Chart
www.winesofchile.org retrieved September 25, 2013

References

External links

* {{Authority control Provinces of Chile Provinces of Santiago Metropolitan Region