Santa Rita Winery Half-Day Tour from Santiago

After your hotel pickup from Santiago, relax on the 45-minute drive south to Santa Rita winery, located in Alto Jahuel, part of the Maipo Valley winemaking region.

Enter Santa Rita’s sculpted grounds, where you’ll meet your winery guide and group in front of elegant colonial-era buildings. Start your 1-hour tour admiring the vineyards that blanket the Andes foothills.

This estate was among the first to grow European grape varieties in Chile starting in 1880. You'll learn more about the founders and the estate's age-old processes on trips to the fermentation cellars and the bottling plant. Stop by a stone and mortar structure called Bodega 1.

Next, stand before the Doña Paula Restaurant to hear about the 120 Patriots, a battle-fatigued troupe of soldiers, led by rebel and later Chilean head of state Bernardo O’Higgins, who were provided refuge at the manor from owner Doña Paula in 1814.

One of the estate’s most popular wine series, the Santa Rita 120, honors this history, and you get to taste three types of the elegant varietals (cabernet sauvignon, merlot, chardonnay or cabernet franc) at the wine bar. As you sip brilliant ruby red or honey-colored wine, see if you can detect scents of strawberries, cherries or raspberries balanced with a hint of vanilla and other spices.

Before heading back to Santiago, spend your remaining time strolling through the landscaped grounds, or wander through the on-site Andean Museum to see an excellent collection of more than 3,000 pre-Columbian artifacts. Don’t forget to browse the wine shop for books, souvenirs, and of course, bottles of wine made at this storied estate to take home.