Full-Day VIK and Montes Premium Wine Tour from Santiago

About This Experience

Across Experience collects you from your Santiago hotel lobby, asking for you at reception, and the booking calendar shows an 08:00 start. The first visit is Viña VIK, in the Millahue valley, a name the Mapuche gave the area that translates as golden place. The estate covers 4,300 hectares, 327 of them planted with vines across 12 small valleys cooled by Pacific and Andean air. Chief winemaker Cristian Vallejo works with hand-picked grapes, natural fermentation and new and used French oak. The listing schedules about an hour here for the VIK Experience Premium.

Lunch is a two-hour stop at what the listing calls Finca de Apalta, crafted by chef Francis Mallmann, where meat, fish and vegetables are cooked with different fire methods in the restaurant's central dome, with Montes and other Colchagua wines on the list. The operator reserves the table; you order à la carte and pay for your own meal.

The afternoon is a premium wine tour at Montes in Apalta, Colchagua, of about two hours. You walk through the vineyard, see the winery where Montes Alpha, Montes Alpha M, Montes Folly and Purple Angel are made, and visit the barrel room, where the wine ages to Gregorian chant. The tasting is three premium wines (Montes Alpha or Outer Limits) and one icon wine (M, Folly or Purple Angel).

The listing gives 10 to 12 hours, and a good part of that is the drive between Santiago and the two estates, so plan nothing else that day. Unlike many private tours, this one takes solo bookings: one traveller pays $610, two pay $419 each, three $399 each, four $380 each, five $360 each and six $350 each. It holds a 5.0 rating from 11 Viator reviews.

Highlights

• Start with the VIK Experience Premium at Viña VIK, in the Millahue valley.
• Hear how VIK farms 327 hectares of vines across 12 small valleys on a 4,300-hectare estate.
• Lunch at a reserved table at Finca de Apalta, the Francis Mallmann restaurant with a central fire dome.
• Walk the Montes vineyard and visit the barrel room where wines age to Gregorian chant.
• Taste three premium Montes wines and one icon wine: Montes Alpha M, Folly or Purple Angel.
• Travel privately from your Santiago hotel, with solo bookings accepted.

What's Included

• ✓ Private transport with hotel pickup and drop-off in Santiago
• ✓ VIK Experience Premium at Viña VIK
• ✓ Premium wine tour and tasting at Viña Montes (three premium wines plus one icon wine)
• ✓ Table reservation at Finca de Apalta (the meal itself is not included)
• ✓ Guide in English or Spanish

Not Included

• Lunch at Finca de Apalta, ordered à la carte and paid by each guest
• Wine ordered from the restaurant list at lunch
• Tastings or visits not in the itinerary

What to Bring

• Money or a card for lunch at Finca de Apalta
• Photo ID showing you are 18 or over

Good to Know & Caveats

• Lunch is not included: the operator books the table and you pay for what you order.
• Price per person by party size: $610 for one, $419 for two, $399 for three, $380 for four, $360 for five, $350 for six.
• Up to six travellers per booking, adults aged 18 and over.
• Viña VIK is in the Millahue valley, part of the Cachapoal Valley; Montes is in Apalta, Colchagua.
• Service animals are allowed.
• Free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure.

Meeting Point

Pickup from your hotel in Santiago: the driver meets you in the lobby and asks for you at reception. The calendar lists an 08:00 start.