Elqui Valley Wines

Elqui Valley is Chile's most northerly wine producing region, about 400km north of Santiago. It is a low-lying region in Coquimbo that follows the Elqui river up to the foothills of the Andes, meaning that morning fog can come far inland and provide an important cooling influence. Pioneering winemakers, such as the Italian Giorgio Flessati of Vina Falernia, also realised the potential for quality grape growing on the higher slopes of the valleys for the same cooling reasons. Syrah and Sauvignon are some of the best wines from here for this reason.

It also has some of Chile's highest vineyards over 2000m above sea level. The intense sunlight and cooling altitude combination produces fruity, fresh wines, most notably from Syrah and Malbec.