Villard Fine Wines

The winery

Thierry Villard was born in France, grew up between Switzerland and England and by the age of twenty was already traveling the world; in Chile he met his wife, and from 1973 he built a career in Australia at Orlando Wines, where he rose to export manager and ran the first international advertising campaign for Jacob's Creek in the United Kingdom. In late 1988 he returned to Chile with his family, advised wineries such as Concha y Toro and Emiliana on exports, and in 1989 founded Villard Fine Wines, devoted solely to premium wines. His bet was on fine whites and Pinot Noir, then almost nonexistent in the country, and for that he chose the Casablanca Valley when few producers believed in it. In parallel he partnered with the French cooperage Nadalié to make barrels in Chile, a company now run by his eldest son, Sébastien. The winery presents itself as the country's first boutique winery and remains in family hands: Jean-Charles, known as Charlie, trained in Bordeaux and with harvests in Australia, South Africa, Bordeaux, Italy, Beaujolais and Burgundy behind him, joined in 2005 and makes the wines with winemaker Anamaría Pacheco, at the house since 1997, while Thierry still gives the final blends his seal of approval.

The winery is in the Tapihue area, at the northeastern end of the valley, where morning fog and the cold influence of the Humboldt Current help preserve acidity and fruit. It is a gravity-flow cellar: upstairs the bunches are sorted and destemmed, downstairs the wine ferments and ages in barrels, many of them from Nadalié; it also runs on solar panels. The range is organized in four tiers: Expresión Reserve (Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Syrah); Grand Vin (Le Chardonnay, Le Pinot Noir, Le Syrah, L'Assemblage and a limited-edition Cabernet Franc); the icons Tanagra, a Syrah from head-trained bush vines planted at 8,300 vines per hectare on clay slopes, aged more than two years in barrel and produced in just a few thousand bottles, and Arganat, a Chardonnay with a mineral edge; and Charlie Villard's JCV line, minimal-intervention natural wines such as a Semillón, a skin-macerated Pinot Grigio Ramato, a Carignan from Maule and a Grenache. In 2026 James Suckling gave 95 points to Arganat 2024 and 94 to the JCV Ramato 2025.

Visits run Wednesday to Sunday, departing at 10:30, 12:00, 14:00 and 15:30, with guides in Spanish, English or French. The fullest tour lasts an hour and a half: it covers the cellar and the barrel room and ends with a tasting of three premium wines and one icon, served with bruschetta; there are also the tour or the tasting on their own, a private tour and a tour led by the owners, Tuesday to Friday, with a cheese and charcuterie board. The bistro Chez Villard, on a terrace overlooking the vineyard, serves à la carte Tuesday to Sunday with a booking and offers a four-course menu paired with four wines, on its own or after the tour. For children there is a grape-juice tasting with a placemat to color in and a kids' menu, and under-16s join the tours free of charge. Book everything by WhatsApp or email; the winery reminds visitors that it is a working cellar, with heavy machinery and building work in some areas. The wines are sold in the winery's shop and in its online shop.