250px, View of Aconcagua Valley, one of the wine districts of Aconcagua wine region Aconcagua is one of the five principal wine regions of

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. It encompasses all winegrowing areas in

Valparaíso Region The Valparaíso Region ( es, Región de Valparaíso, links=no, ) is one of Chile's 16 first order administrative divisions.Valparaíso Region, 2006 With the country's second-highest population of 1,790,219 , and fourth-smallest area of , ...

. The Aconcagua wine region is composed of four minor wine districts;

Casablanca Valley Casablanca (), meaning "white house", is a Chilean city and commune located in Valparaíso Province, Valparaíso Region. Geography The city of Casablanca is located on Route 68 between Santiago and the city of Valparaíso, at about 30 minutes ...

, Aconcagua Costa, Aconcagua Valley and Leyda Valley. "Aconcagua Valley" is a wine-producing region located 65 km (40 mi) north of Santiago in the east of the

. It is a Denomination of Origin (DO) defined by the Chilean

Appellation An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical boun ...

system, the legally defined and protected geographical indication used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown. Aconcagua Valley takes its name both from the province where it is located, San Felipe de Aconcagua, and also from the

Aconcagua Aconcagua () is a mountain in the Principal Cordillera of the Andes mountain range, in Mendoza Province, Argentina. It is the List of highest mountains on Earth, highest mountain in the Americas, the highest outside Asia, and the highest in the ...

mountain, the highest peak in the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

at 6,956 meters (22,828 feet). The snow-capped peak of Aconcagua and the surrounding mountains delivers essential melt water to the valley below. The small, 1,098-hectare winegrowing area is well known for its red wines, which have earned international acclaim, with Vina Errázuriz's “ Seña” placing ahead of both

Château Lafite A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. Nowaday ...

and

Château Margaux Château Margaux (), archaically La Mothe de Margaux, is a wine estate of Bordeaux wine, and was one of four wines to achieve ''Premier cru'' (first growth) status in the Bordeaux Classification of 1855. The estate's best wines are very expens ...

in blind tasting held in Berlin in 2004, a milestone for the Chilean wine industry. Although the valley is primarily known for the red grapes grown in its interior, white grapes are also now being grown in new coastal plantations.

Grape distribution by varietal

* Climate: Mediterranean, 215 mm (8.5 in) of rainfall per year. * Soils: clay and sandy to the east; granite and clay to the west. * Primary grapes:

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' ...

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 ...

, Carmenere, and coastal

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 ...

. * Total hectares planted: 952 ha (2,352 acres)See Aconcague Valley Chart
www.winesofchile.org retrieved October 13, 2013

References

{{Coord missing, Chile Wine regions of Chile