There is no winegrowing landscape in Chile quite like this one. The Itata Valley is a small sheltered treasure of the Biobío Region, whose winegrowing tradition dates back 400 years and where head-trained vines are found scattered among pine trees. With an emerging route that has slowly incorporated tourism into its activities, Itata hides within its vineyards the history of our Chilean viticulture.

 

It is here where the most daring wines of Chile come from, and where some small wine producers have decided to give tourism a try, showing visitors their artisan way of producing wine, while trying to rescue their local traditions. Pipeño is a great example, that from traditional local jug wine, it passed on to becoming an important national reference worldwide, even found in specialized stores of New York and Paris.

 

Itata spreads out for 100 kilometers, between the cities of San Carlos on the north and Bulnes on the south, in the Ñuble province. The vineyards, of rustic varieties, like Moscatel, País and Cinsault, have perfectly adapted to the soil and climate of the valley, making up great extensions of vines that do not involve wires or any other system of support.

 

Encountering those large green fields rolling over for miles, covering slopes and small hills all the way into the horizon is a unique landscape.  What would seem like an incredibly romantic postcard, makes sense given to the orientation of its vines, all facing up thanks to the distinct topography of the terrain.

 

 

Tourism here is still at a human scale, but nevertheless very attractive. With a very strong sense of tradition, it is ideal to dig in and explore some of the valley´s heritage, where families have been developing wine for generations, in the same soil the Jesuits first planted the vines.

 

In the area surrounding Bulnes, there are two activities that cannot be missed. One of them is the Chillán Winery. Here, the tour shows you through the vineyards and production process developed by the Swiss Rudolf Rüesch, Karin Lenz-Meier and Roland Lenz ever since 1998. Among the varieties they produce we find Zinfandel, a variety that not many winegrowers bottle in Chile. There is a pasta restaurant with homemade desserts, as well as a guesthouse that accommodates up to 18 people, with a pool facing the vineyards.

 

The Männle Winery only has organic wine. Heinrich Männle, the winery´s German oenologist, has tried to maintain the viticulture activity developed by his father in the Weingut Andreas Männle Winery in Durbach, Germany. Here the tour takes two hours and during the wine tasting session at the end, there are several varieties to try out: from Cabernet Sauvignon to Sauvignon Blanc, passing through Malbec, accompanied by delicious local cheeses.