Chile's vineyards contain rare examples of pure,
ungrafted European vines that still flourish.

At the northern end of Chile's 3,000-mile length lies the Atacama desert. While at the southern end, the permafrost wasteland of the Antarctic can be found. Roughly midway between the two lies a paradise - "paraiso" to the Chileans - equal to any on earth. This central valley, nestled in a slim 600-mile long depression between the Andes Mountains on the east and the Cordilliera de la Costa on the west, is Chile's viticultural heartland and the source of the finest wines of South America.

In the mid-1500s missionaries accompanying the first Conquistadors cultivated the black pais grape to produce sacramental wines. As viticulture spread to the secular sphere, wines imported from Spain increasingly lost market share to local production. In 1803 to eliminate this competition, Spain ordered all vines in Chile's northern provinces uprooted and barred their wine from international commerce.

In 1870 the Phylloxera louse began its devastating march across the vineyards of Europe and North America. Chile's vineyards, protected by natural barriers on all frontiers, remained untouched. When Europe began the task of restoration, it turned to Chile for young, healthy plants to be grafted onto phylloxera-resistant stocks. Chile's vineyards contain rare examples of pure, ungrafted European vines that still flourish.