Viña Ventisquero - Viñedo Roblería (Apalta)

The winery

Viña Ventisquero was born in 1998, when businessman Gonzalo Vial planted his first vineyard on the Trinidad estate, in Maipo Costa, where the group's main winery stands today. From 2000, with winemaker Felipe Tosso and the advice of Australian John Duval, the winery spread to other valleys, and today Ventisquero Wine Estates works its own vineyards in Maipo, Casablanca, Leyda, Colchagua and the Huasco Valley, in the heart of the Atacama Desert. The Descorchados 2026 guide named it Winery of the Year. This profile covers only its Apalta vineyard, La Roblería, which is where the house receives visitors in the Colchagua Valley.

La Roblería brings together close to 66 hectares of hillside vines, between 200 and 475 meters above sea level, many planted on terraces that follow the curve of the hills. The soils are alluvial, clay loam on the slopes and sandy loam on the flat, and drip irrigation comes from deep wells. The house's most ambitious reds come from here: Pangea, a Syrah that Tosso and Duval have made since the 2004 vintage; Vértice, a blend of Carménère and Syrah from the highest blocks, at about 470 meters; and Obliqua, a Carménère from block 23 named after the native oak (Nothofagus obliqua) that grows at the top of that block. The Syrah, the Merlot and the Garnacha, Cariñena and Mataró blend of the Grey line are also born here. Harvest is by hand between April and early May.

The visit revolves around the Mirador La Roblería, a wooden deck on top of a hill of terraced vines, with views over the Apalta valley and the Coastal Range; you reach it by a dirt road that climbs through the vineyards. There are four tours of about 75 minutes that combine the lookout, a walk through the vineyard and a guided tasting: Grey (four wines from that line), Premium (three Grey and one Ramirana), Alta Gama (four of the house's icon wines) and Sunset, at dusk, with five top-tier wines and a cheese and charcuterie board. For something longer there is the Winemaker Session, a morning with the winemaking team in the Pangea vineyard that ends with a tasting and a board at the lookout. Everything is booked in advance, with a minimum of two people, and tastings are for over-18s only. There is no restaurant or accommodation, but wines are sold at the lookout. Open Tuesday to Saturday and some Sundays depending on the booking calendar; closed on Mondays.