How to do a sustainable wine tour of Chile

Chile – South America’s long, western sliver – is a country of microclimates, stretching for 2,700 miles; or roughly the distance from Denmark to Morocco.

Diverse as Chile’s landscapes are, from the salt-baked planes of the Atacama desert to the metropolitan sprawl of Santiago and the snowcapped peaks of Patagonia, they are united by one problem: a major water crisis. Chile’s “megadrought” is forcing the country to rethink its resources and, for the $6bn wine industry, the climate crisis is giving rise to ingenuity. More than 80 per cent of Chile’s bottled wine now falls under the Sustainable Wines of Chile code, which calls for strict parameters around waste, recycling, energy and, crucially, responsible water use.

Travellers following Chile’s well-trodden wine circuit tend to gravitate to the capital, Santiago, but those who venture further afield can sample the bolder flavours of climate-resilient wine.

Casablanca

Bodegas RE Wine

Leave the smog of the Santiago basin behind for the vineyards of Casablanca, Chile’s answer to Napa Valley, an hour’s drive north of the capital. Minty wafts of eucalyptus and marigold clusters of Californian poppies hint that this has been a fertile year – the typically dry region has seen more than 10 days of rainfall, turning the grass from a parched yellow to a patchy green.

“When winemaking you’re pretty much at the mercy of Mother Nature,” a guide at the homely, family-run Bodega RE vineyard says, remembering a river that once ran past the grounds. As the prefix “re” might suggest, Bodega RE revisits ancient winemaking traditions with a modern spin. A proportion of their wine is fermented in amphorae – vast 250-year-old clay pots – removing any oaky notes a barrel may leave. The end products are unusual wine blends, like pinotel (pinot noir and muscatel) or chardinoir (chardonnay and pinot noir).

Wine tastings take place in a rustic bodega, complemented by creamy slabs of queso, strawberry balsamic vinegar and olive oil, grown and pressed in-house.

Casas Del Bosque

Hop across the Casablanca Valley to Casas Del Bosque, a boutique 250-acre vineyard specialising in cool-climate wines. Still…