The Best Wine Tours Near Santiago, Chile: Maipo, Casablanca and the City
2026-09-22
Santiago sits at the top of Chile's wine country. The Maipo Valley, where Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon made its name, starts 45 minutes south of the city. The cool Casablanca Valley is on the road to the coast. And inside the city, a good sommelier can pour you through the whole map in an afternoon. This is where we take our guests, and how to pick.
Maipo Valley: the classic, 45 minutes from town
The Maipo is the valley you can visit from Santiago without giving up the whole day. Three estates, three very different visits.
Viña Santa Rita is the history stop. Founded in 1880, the estate is a National Historic Monument, partly because its colonial cellars sheltered 120 of O'Higgins' soldiers in 1818, decades before the first vines went in. You walk the cal y canto cellars and the Bodega de los 120 Patriotas, then the centenary park, the neo-Gothic chapel and the 19th-century Roman baths, and taste Ultra Premium wines with cheese and charcuterie. The estate also holds the Museo Andino, a pre-Columbian collection you can wander on your own. Our Santa Rita tour runs about four and a half hours with private transport from the Mercado Urbano Tobalaba, and you leave with an engraved glass.
Cousiño Macul is the family stop. The winery has made wine on the same ground since 1856 and is the only 19th-century Chilean winery still owned by its founding family. The visit moves through the old Peñalolén manor, the family cellar known as La Biblioteca and the 1872 underground cellar built by French engineers, with three wines during the tour and three more paired with a charcuterie board, plus a welcome glass on arrival. Our Cousiño Macul tour is four hours, hotel pickup included, and never feels rushed.
Haras de Pirque is the one for the view. The cellar is built in the shape of a horseshoe in honour of Chile's oldest thoroughbred stud farm next door, the vines are organic, and since 2017 the estate has belonged to the Antinori family of Tuscany, winemakers since 1385. The visit opens on the terrace with the Andes filling the horizon, walks the gravity-flow cellar, and ends with a sommelier-led tasting in the private cellar. You choose how far it goes: three organic wines, or add Albis, the icon blend born of the Antinori partnership, or take the full private table with cheese, charcuterie and a bottle to carry home. The Haras de Pirque tour is about four and a half hours with hotel pickup.
Casablanca Valley: cool climate, on the way to the coast
Casablanca is Chile's cool-climate valley, an hour or so west of Santiago towards Valparaíso. Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are the reasons to go, so it is the pick for white-wine drinkers. We do not run a fixed Casablanca departure, but it is one of the days we build most often as a private tour, usually paired with Valparaíso or a seafood lunch on the coast, with a designated driver included.
No time to leave the city? Lastarria
If you have an afternoon rather than a day, Santiago's own wine scene is in Lastarria. BocaNariz, Chile's first wine bar, pours nothing but Chilean labels from a list of more than 300 wines that carries the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence. Our Lastarria culinary experience puts a BocaNariz sommelier in the middle of a three-hour walk that also covers a pisco sour at Chipe Libre and a three-course Chilean lunch at Casa Lastarria.
How to choose
- One day, first time in Chile: Santa Rita, for the history and the grounds.
- You care most about the wine itself: Cousiño Macul, six tastings across the range plus the welcome glass.
- You want the Andes in the picture: Haras de Pirque.
- White wines and the coast: a private Casablanca day.
- Half a day in the city: Lastarria.
Frequently asked questions
How far is the Maipo Valley from Santiago? About 45 minutes by car. All three of our Maipo tours include private round-trip transport, so nobody has to drive.
Do I need to book ahead? Yes. The wineries run their visits at set times and in small groups, so we confirm your slot when you book.
Can we combine two wineries in one day? On a private tour, yes. Tell us what you like to drink and we build the day around it.
Are the tours in English? Every tour runs in English, Spanish or Portuguese. Pick your language when you book.
Whichever valley you pick, browse our wine tours or tell us what you like and we will point you to the right cellar.
