Viña Odfjell

The winery

Viña Odfjell was born of a shipowner's journey: the Norwegian Dan Odfjell, owner of the shipping company that bears his surname, came to Chile in the late 1980s, fell in love with the Maipo Valley and decided to make wine in Padre Hurtado, about 40 km southwest of Santiago. His first vineyard is there, and its first harvest was in 1998 according to the winery. His children Laurence and Dan Jr. now run this family project, and the sea lives on in the names of the wines: Armador, Orzada, which means sailing into the wind, or Aliara, a tin cup used to ration alcohol on ships. The winery, designed by Laurence, who is an architect, was built against the hillside with more than half of it underground and moves the wine by gravity; the estate presents it as the first of its kind in South America.

The wines come from three organic vineyards and are all made in Padre Hurtado. The home vineyard, on stony alluvial soils, has Syrah and Malbec among its varieties. The heart of the project, as the winery itself says, is in Cauquenes, in the Maule Valley: the Tres Esquinas vineyard covers 18 ha, with Carignan more than a hundred years old, head-trained (bush vines) and dry-farmed. From there comes Zippora, a blend of six varieties, and that same dry-farmed Carignan is the core of Vigno, another of its wines. The third vineyard, Ribera del Río Claro, in the Lontué Valley, contributes Malbec of about 60 years. The grapes are certified organic by Ecocert, the winery holds the Sustainable Wine of Chile seal and its wines are vegan. Norwegian fjord horses live on the farm, helping to aerate the soil, control weeds and fertilize the land, along with beehives, a hobby inherited from the founder. The range goes from the Armador and Capítulo lines to Orzada, Elusiva, Aliara, Vigno, Odfjell and Zippora.

The visit is about 40 minutes from Santiago and runs Tuesday to Saturday with advance booking, in Spanish or English; the wine shop is open Monday to Saturday, from 9:00 to 17:00. There are three tours through the tank room and the aging cellar, all ending with a tasting: Orzada; Aliara, which adds a walk to the stables and the vineyard; and Premium, with four of its top-range wines. If you'd rather just taste, there are three tastings with cheese and charcuterie boards. There is also a picnic for two on the terrace overlooking the valley and the three-hour Horse Experience, which combines a ride on the fjord horses around the farm with the winery visit and a tasting. On the tours and the picnic, children up to 12 go free and those aged 13 to 17 pay a reduced rate. The winery lists no restaurant or accommodation; Enoturismo Chile also mentions group lunches, private dinners and weddings.