Santiago: Maipo Valley Wine Tasting Tour with 4 Vineyards

A day in the Maipo Valley is one of the best ways to get real Chilean wine culture without losing half your trip to traffic. This small-group tour keeps things tightly planned, with a morning start and a smooth return to Santiago. You also get a quick Maipo River photo stop to break up the ride.

I especially like the mix of wine styles and farm scale. The first stop at Campo La Quirinca leans hands-on, with a guided walk of the grounds and agricultural production, plus animal husbandry like alpacas and chickens, ending with pisco and tastings guided by people like Tephi and Nacho in past tours. I also like the range from smaller, character-filled sites to the big name energy of Undurraga, where the day finishes with a tour plus a tasting of 4 premium wines, and where guides such as Pablo are known for keeping the group engaged.

One thing to consider: TerraMater is more of a lunch and shop moment than a big tasting stop, so if you want a heavy pour at every single vineyard, plan your expectations. Also, one winery can be swapped for Viña Ballek if a provider is unavailable.

Key Highlights at a Glance

• 10-hour small-group day (max 15 people) with pickup and drop-off in central Santiago neighborhoods
• Campo La Quirinca farm winery with garden tour, alpacas and chickens, cheese tasting, wine tasting, and pisco
• Santa Ema full tasting of 3 premium wines in a scenic setting
• TerraMater lunch at the restaurant (own cost) plus the olive oil shop sold at cellar price
• Undurraga tour and tasting of 4 premium wines, plus a wine glass gift

Why Maipo Valley Fits Perfectly into a Santiago Schedule

Santiago is close to the wine country, and that matters. The Maipo Valley is one of those regions where you can taste serious wines without turning the trip into a two-day ordeal. This tour is timed for that reality, leaving between 7:30 and 8:00 AM and returning around 6:00 to 6:30 PM.

The best part is how efficiently the day is stitched together. You stop at four places, with enough time at each to feel like you actually visited, not just checked a box. There is also that quick Maipo River photo stop about 15 minutes long, which is small but useful, especially when the morning drive feels like it’s all highway.

This is also a “different size, different personality” kind of itinerary. One stop feels like a working agricultural place, another is polished and tasting-room friendly, and the last one is a classic, established estate with extensive facilities. If you enjoy seeing how wine changes with the winery scale, production style, and history, you will likely find the day has variety instead of repetition.

Finally, the small group size helps. With a limited group (15 max), the guide can manage questions and keep the pace comfortable even when tastings stack up. And yes, the vehicle is air-conditioned, which is a real quality-of-life bonus in Chile’s warmer months.

Pickup and Timing: The Hidden Value in a Good Wine Tour

Wine tours live or die by timing. If you start late, you hit lunch late, and then you end up rushed at the last stop. Here, you get a consistent morning departure window (7:30 to 8:00 AM), and you finish with a return window that puts you back for a normal evening plan.

Pickup is included, and it is set up to cover several key areas. You can be collected from places like Providencia, Las Condes, Estación Central, Vitacura, and Recoleta. If your hotel is outside the pick-up areas, you meet the partner at a nearby location.

The tour is 10 hours total, and the schedule is built around the practical rhythm of wine tastings. Plan on a full day where you will be tasting, walking a bit, and standing at points. One recurring theme in day tours like this is that you might spend longer than expected standing during tastings, so comfortable shoes are not optional.

One last practical note: if you care a lot about seeing the countryside from the vehicle, ask the team where your seat is. Some tour vans can have higher seatbacks that limit the view for people sitting farther back. Choosing closer to the front can make the drive more enjoyable.

Campo La Quirinca: Where the Day Gets Real, Rural, and Fun

The first winery, Campo La Quirinca, sets the tone. This is not just a tasting-room stop. You get a full guided tour of the facilities and gardens, and you learn how Chilean country production works in a working environment.

The tour is also built to feel like a place with multiple parts, not just grapevines. You can walk through agricultural production areas and hear about animal husbandry, including alpacas and various breeds of chickens. It is an ideal start if you want context for where food and wine come from, not just a quick sampling.

Before you settle into tasting mode, there is time for snacks and a cheese tasting. That is more helpful than it sounds. Cheese and small bites help you pace your palate, so by the time pisco and wine tastings arrive, you are ready for the full flavors instead of feeling overwhelmed.

Then comes the tasting moment. You relax in the salon area with wine tasting plus pisco. This is the kind of stop where guides tend to bring energy, and people have highlighted guides like Mary at La Quirinca for being lively and generous with information. The store also matters here. Many of the local products are available for purchase, so you can bring home something that feels like it came from a real farm community, not just a branded label.

Duration at this stop is about 1 hour 30 minutes, which is long enough to feel the difference between a “tour visit” and a “tasting only” stop.

Santa Ema (El Peral): Scenic Vines and a Straightforward 3-Wine Tasting

After the farm winery start, Viña Santa Ema changes the mood. This is the stop that feels more classic to most people’s mental picture of a Chilean winery: a beautiful setting, a structured tasting, and a guide who explains the wines in a way that helps you notice differences.

You get a full tasting of 3 premium wines, including one of their signature wines. The time here is about 1 hour. That hour is usually just right. It is long enough to try multiple pours, but short enough to keep the day moving so you do not feel behind schedule for lunch and the final estate.

The big value of Santa Ema for me is the contrast. After La Quirinca, you will notice how wine tasting shifts when the winery has a different scale, layout, and guest experience. It teaches you that wine culture is not one single style. Even when it’s all “Maipo Valley wine,” the way it is grown, made, and presented can vary a lot.

If you have a favorite style, this is also a stop where you can use the tasting to spot what you like most. Then, when you reach the last winery, you can pay extra attention to what changes and what stays similar.

TerraMater: Lunch on Your Clock, Olive Oil with Cellar-Priced Potential

At around 12:30 PM, the day takes a breather at Viña TerraMater. This is the stop where you get your lunch time option. Lunch at their restaurant (Zinfandel) is at your own expense, and the stop is about 1 hour 30 minutes.

Even though it is not a classic “tasting-heavy” moment, TerraMater is still a smart change of pace. You get time to sit down, reset, and eat. That matters because the last tasting at Undurraga is where many people feel the wine volume catch up, so building in a proper meal helps you enjoy, not just endure.

The olive oil connection is the standout detail. TerraMater is described as the house of olive oil, and they sell it in their shop at cellar price. That is a big deal if you like cooking gifts, because olive oil bottles tend to travel well and feel more useful than another bottle you might have to guard carefully.

There is also a practical lesson here about Chilean agriculture beyond grapes. You will be reminded that the region grows more than wine grapes, and that the production mindset in Chile often overlaps between fruits, grains, and traditional food goods.

Undurraga: 130 Years, a Big Estate Tour, and 4 Premium Wines

The final winery, Vina Undurraga, is the “this is a legacy estate” stop. Undurraga is described as one of the older and more traditional wineries, with 130 years of experience, and the tour is designed to give you the bigger picture of how Chilean wine production got where it is today.

You will start with a tour that goes beyond the basics. Expect gardens and vineyard time, plus a look at production areas like the warehouse and barrel cellar, and even a pre-Columbian exposition. This is not just scenic, it is educational. It helps you understand that wine is a system, not a single romantic moment of harvest.

Then you move into tasting mode. At Undurraga you will taste 4 premium wines. The tasting includes the wine glass gift at the end, which is a small touch but a useful one. It gives you a physical reminder of which stops delivered your favorites.

Many people love this last stop because it is where the day feels complete: a tour with scale, a tasting with variety, and an estate that feels built for long-term production. One consideration, though, is pacing. If you are sensitive to standing and walking on top of tastings, keep an eye on your energy during the tour, and take breaks when your guide allows it.

How Much Wine You’ll Taste, and How to Pace It

This tour is set up as a full day with multiple tastings, and the wines are generous at each stop. At Santa Ema, the tasting includes 3 premium wines. At Undurraga, you taste 4 premium wines. At Campo La Quirinca, you add wine tasting and pisco, with snacks and cheese to help you manage your palate.

You might not need to count pours, but you should plan your behavior around the fact that you will likely taste enough to feel it. Eat breakfast before pickup if you can. Bring water if allowed by the guide, and do not feel guilty taking small breaks during the tours.

If you want to enjoy the day instead of racing through it, pick a simple goal. For example: identify one white you like, one red you like, and one bottle you would actually buy. Then compare the last two stops with that mental checklist.

Also, plan your evening after return. Your last stop is a tasting finish, and you will be back around 6:00 to 6:30 PM, which is early enough to still do dinner, but late enough that most people will feel their day.

Price and Value: Is $134 a Smart Deal for Maipo?

At $134 per person for a 10-hour, small-group day, this tour is priced like a serious “wine country day,” not a casual bus ride. The value is not just the wineries. It is the combination of things.

First, you are paying for time efficiency. The day starts early, targets the Maipo Valley close to Santiago, and keeps driving between stops tight. When you are short on time in Chile, that matters more than it sounds.

Second, you get included experiences that are usually extras on cheaper tours. You have hotel pickup and drop-off, transport by air-conditioned vehicle, a professional guide, wine tasting across multiple wineries, and a pisco tasting at La Quirinca. You also get a real estate tour at Undurraga, not only a tasting counter.

Third, TerraMater adds something practical, lunch time (own cost) plus olive oil sold at cellar price. That means the day can produce a couple of takeaway purchases, not just wine.

Is it perfect value for everyone? No. If you want only tasting-room experiences and very little walking, you may find the farm and estate tours add time on your feet. And if you expected tasting included at TerraMater like at the other stops, you might find that stop more about lunch and olive oil shopping.

Still, with the range of winery scale and the structured tastings at Santa Ema and Undurraga, the math tends to work well for wine lovers and first-timers.

Who Should Book This Maipo Valley Wine Tasting Tour

I think this tour is especially well suited to:

• You want a one-day wine education without a multi-day plan
• You like variety, small farm energy at La Quirinca, then bigger estate history at Undurraga
• You enjoy food pairing moments like snacks and cheese early in the day
• You want guides who switch between English and Spanish and keep the flow friendly, with past guides including Tephi, Nacho, Pablo, Alexia, and others

You might want to look elsewhere if:

• You want a tasting-heavy schedule with minimal tours and minimal walking
• You only care about wine and would rather skip the food and olive oil angle
• You are very sensitive to standing during tastings

Should You Book It?

Yes, if you want a well-paced Maipo Valley wine tasting tour from Santiago that balances rural character with established wineries. The day’s structure, including pisco and tastings at Campo La Quirinca, a focused 3-wine visit at Santa Ema, lunch and olive oil at TerraMater, and a full estate tour plus 4-wine tasting at Undurraga, creates a satisfying full-picture day.

Book it with the right expectations. TerraMater is a reset and shopping stop, not a repeat of the other tastings. Bring comfy shoes, plan to eat before you start, and choose a seat that lets you see out if scenery matters to you. If you do that, you will likely come away with both favorite wines and a clearer sense of how Chilean production works.

FAQ

What time does the tour leave Santiago?

Pickup is usually between 7:30 and 8:00 AM.

How long is the tour from start to finish?

The full day is 10 hours, and you are dropped off at your hotel or AirBnB around 6:00 to 6:30 PM.

Where can you be picked up in Santiago?

Pickup is included from areas such as Providencia, Las Condes, Estación Central, and other central neighborhoods including Vitacura and Recoleta. If your hotel is outside the pick-up zones, you will be given a nearest meeting point.

How many wineries do you visit?

You visit 4 wineries in the Maipo Valley: Campo La Quirinca, Viña Santa Ema, Viña TerraMater, and Viña Undurraga.

Are there tastings included, or is it just a tour?

Wine tastings are included at Santa Ema and Undurraga, and Campo La Quirinca includes a tour plus wine tasting and pisco tasting.

Is lunch included?

Lunch at TerraMater is at your own expense. You have lunch time there, but it is not included in the tour price.

What languages will the guide speak?

The live tour guide speaks English and Spanish.

What happens if a winery provider is unavailable?

If one of the regular providers is not available, it will be replaced with a different local winery, Viña Ballek.