Chile

From luscious Cabernets to sumptuous Chardonnays, Chile offers excellent quality, varieties Americans know and love, and prices that can't be ignored. And that's just the tip of the Andes!

A Rosy Future: It's not only wine drinkers who've been attracted to Chile—top foreign winemakers, lured by Chile's exceptional climate, proven soil, and favorable land and labor prices, see the future of Chilean wine as limitless. Let's face it: When names such as Lafite Rothschild of France, Torres of Spain, and Mondavi of California get on the Chilean bandwagon, the wine world sits up and takes notice.

These companies and others—often backed by centuries of winemaking expertise—have made massive investments in new equipment and technology. This influx of money and know-how can only drive already high Chilean quality standards through the roof.

Easy-growing country: With loads of sunshine, ocean breezes, and plentiful water from the Andes, winegrowers claim that Chile is one of the easiest places in the world to raise quality wine grapes. Plus, it's the world's only major wine region never to have been affected by the vineyard's number one enemy: the vine-destroying louse, phylloxera.

Ridiculously easy grape growing makes it a breeze for Chilean winemakers to experiment with new varieties. Although already justifiably famous for top-notch Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Chardonnay, similar success with varieties such as Pinot Noir, Riesling, Syrah, and many others surely is just around the corner. It could be that in Chile, we're witnessing the future of wine.