Appellation · Chile
Bío-Bío Valley
A cool, wet southern valley with a long history of País and a new one of Pinot Noir and Riesling.
Light, high-acid Pinot Noir; taut Riesling and Chardonnay; and rustic, tart País. Fresher and leaner than central Chile.
About Bío-Bío Valley
Bío-Bío is in Chile’s cool, wet south, with significantly more rainfall and less reliable sunshine than the central valleys.
It was historically País and Moscatel country for domestic consumption. Since the 1990s it has attracted plantings of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Riesling on the basis of its cooler climate.
Vintage variation is much larger here than further north, which in Chile is genuinely unusual.
What the name means
- Legal name
- Valle del Bío-Bío DO
- Type
- Geographical indication
- Set by
- Servicio Agrícola y Ganadero (SAG), Chile
- Recognised
- 1995
- Regulates
- Origin only. It sets no rules about varieties, yields, ageing or winemaking.
A nationally registered indication of origin outside the systems enumerated above. What it controls varies by jurisdiction and is recorded on the individual record.
Grapes
Wines from here
What to eat, and how to serve it
Derived from this region’s signature styles. Each is listed separately, because a region does not have one serving temperature.
Chilean Pinot Noir
Serve at 14–16°C (cellar cool).
Try with fillet steak, turkey or bloomy-rind cheese.
Where to go next
Places worth trying if you like this one — neighbours, rivals, and the obvious step across.
- Itata Valley — Chile’s oldest wine region, home to old-vine País and Cinsault on granite soils.
- Malleco Valley — Chile’s southernmost wine region, tiny and cold, planted almost as an experiment and now taken seriously.
- Maule Valley — Chile’s largest wine region, and the home of very old dry-farmed bush-vine Carignan and País.
Sources
Sources consulted
- Wines of Chile — Wines of Chile