Despite a decline in global wine consumption, a recent study found Brazilian visitors are helping to fuel demand for Chilean wine through a growing tourism category that links ski resorts with urban wine experiences.
A recent study by agronomist and wine specialist based in Chile Maximiliano Morales has highlighted the growing role of Brazilian tourists in supporting Chile’s wine industry, as the country develops a new category of ski-linked urban enotourism.
According to the findings, the Brazilian market has consolidated its position as the primary driver of Chile’s wine industry during the winter season, despite broader challenges facing the global wine sector due to declining consumption.
Each winter, Chile welcomes large numbers of international visitors to more than 10 ski resorts stretching from Portillo to Punta Arenas. However, limited travel time often prevents tourists from visiting the country’s traditional wine regions further south.
To address this, AndesWines.com has launched “Ski and Wines”, an Urban Wine Tasting Tour designed to bring Chile’s wine heritage directly to international travellers.
The initiative offers private tastings of premium wines from Metropolitana (Maipo), Ñuble (Guarilihue, Portezuelo, Coelemu and Quillon), Maule and O’Higgins (Colchagua, Millahue), regions that are home to many of Chile’s oldest historical vineyards.
From the slopes to the city
The experience is curated by Morales, who has spent more than two decades promoting Chilean wine internationally and advocating for the preservation of centenarian vines through what he describes as Ancestral Enotourism.
According to AndesWines, the influx of Brazilian tourists during the ski season is creating new opportunities for boutique wineries, pisco producers and restaurants. The Urban Wine Tour extends the visitor experience beyond the mountains through wine tastings, gastronomy and local spirits.
Pisco also features prominently in the programme, with the tasting line-up incorporating Chile’s national spirit alongside visits to boutique wine bars and restaurants.
The concept builds on previous international promotional work organised by AndesWines. Before the pandemic, the company coordinated field trips to the Puelo and Itata valleys for wine figures including Jancis Robinson MW, Financial Times food and wine writer Nicholas Lander and WineBusiness.com’s Cyril Penn.
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Another initiative included a visit to the restaurant Boragó alongside Swiss grape geneticist and ampelographer José Vouillamoz, aimed at showcasing the connection between gastronomy and Chile’s wine heritage.
Expanding beyond Santiago
The project is now expanding beyond Santiago to winter destinations including Chillán, where tourists can take part in wine-pairing dinners and meet producers during their stay.
According to AndesWines, the aim is to increase average tourist spending, create new commercial opportunities for small-scale heritage vineyards and raise the international profile of Chile’s wine and spirits sector.
Morales is also overseeing the programme’s expansion into the Elqui, Limarí and Choapa valleys, as well as the Atacama region. In these northern areas, the focus is on developing family-owned wine brands sourced from ancient vineyards that continue to survive despite climate change and water scarcity.
Alongside wine tourism, the promotion of Chilean Pisco remains a central pillar of the project. AndesWines notes that Chilean Pisco has the oldest Designation of Origin in the Americas, established on 15 May 1931, with production restricted to the transverse valleys of Atacama and Coquimbo.
For the 2026 season, the Urban Wine and Pisco Tour has formalised operations in northern Chile, linking regional producers with the gastronomy of the semi-arid coastline around La Serena, Chile’s second-oldest city after Santiago.
Morales’ experience also includes working as a wine specialist aboard luxury expedition cruises, including National Geographic Explorer, National Geographic Endeavour and Silver Cloud, where he curated comparative tastings of Chilean and Argentine wines for passengers.
According to the study, this experience has helped form the foundation of a new urban enotourism category aimed at attracting premium international travellers, many of whom later return to Chile independently after visiting through cruise programmes.
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