History of Wine Making in Chile

The Chilean Wine industry which dates back to the mid 1500s, is today one of the leading exporters of wine throughout the world. Chile is perhaps one of the very few countries whose roots are closely related to its wine industry.

The Birth of the Wine Industry Giant

The mid 1500s in Chile was a time when the country was highly exposed to European missioners and conquistadores. They brought with them the art of grape cultivation and wine making. Back then, the primary purpose behind growing grapes was religious – the missioners needed wine on a daily basis for church rituals. In 1554, the first vineyard was planted in Santiago by Diego Garcia de Caceres. The climate and soil conditions of Chile were immensely favorable for grapes and the gross harvest was volumes more than what was expected by them. They then decided to export the surplus back to Spain and this marked the birth of Chile’s entry into international wine trade.

The Growth and Decline

By 1831 Chile had more than 19 million vineyards producing over 70 different varieties of grapes. Chile's wine history has been extremely influenced by French winemaking techniques. These mixed influences gave Chilean wines a very distinct ‘sweet’ taste. With its ever increasing demand, its wine became the chief competition for Spanish wine amongst others. Spain, relenting this, started imposing heavy restrictions on imports from Chile and destroyed several vineyards in Chile to curb the growth. This created general fall back for the wine industry in Chile. In 1870, grape plantations across the world suffered from Phylloxera disease. Chile’s wines remained safe from this on account of the country’s isolation, thus making Chilean wines increase in popularity.  This was again threatened with the advent of the world wars as public interest toward wine itself declined.

The Wine Renaissance of the 90s

The 1980s saw a revival in the country’s wine industry. Chilean wine industry was revitalized with the return of democracy. Then began a slow yet steady recovery of the market – between 1990 and 1993, 10,000 hectares of various strains of wine grapes were planted across the countries viti-cultural regions. Today Chile is the third leading exporter of wine after France and Italy. The technological revolution that took place in cultivation methods has made Chile secure a strong position in the international market by producing affordable premium wines.