The Focus on Chilean Vineyards Is Rewriting the Rules in the World of Wine Investment
The Chilean wine industry is witnessing a significant influx of foreign investment from global investors, making Chile one of the key destinations for international investments in vineyards and wineries. This trend has also increased interest in opportunities to make co-investments, as well as in the outright purchase of a brand or the infrastructure to develop new wines, which has led many families who have sold their vineyards to create boutique labels in other valleys. This movement has contributed to diversifying the Chilean wine industry ecosystem.
Internationally renowned brands such as Château Lafite-Rothschild, Félix Solís Avantis, González Byass (Veramonte-Neyen), Antinori (Haras de Pirque), François Lurton (Viña Hacienda Araucano), and Sogrape (Chateau Los Boldos), which have recently arrived in Chile, have aroused the interest of Chilean wine industry families, which in turn has been encouraging foreign investors to continue arriving in Chile, as well as to help the national wine economy to consolidate, thanks in large part to Chile’s wide range of agro-climatic conditions and terroirs, as well as its new wine entries in the Premium segment.
In this context, the Chilean wine industry brands Concha y Toro, San Pedro, Montes, Santa Rita, Errázuriz, Cousiño Macul, Santa Carolina, Casa Silva, Viu Manent, and VIK, among others, are taking the lead. Focused on strengthening and consolidating their prestigious brands, they are using their power and presence to generate international buzz and are focused on leveraging their brands. On the one hand, these wine companies are raising prices for wines from wineries that make “Terroir Wines” (Vin de Terroir) and have them in their portfolios. On the other hand, they are looking at the real estate sector in Chile, which allows them to open new businesses such as lodges, boutique hotels, restaurants, etc.
Maximiliano Morales, CEO of Andes Wines, the online wine business platform, states: “Chile’s investment opportunity is ideal, thanks to the high quality of our grapes and internationally recognized brands that have been developing over four decades, as well as the wide range of terroirs, for an international wave of premium wine investments that come with the heritage and know-how of the Old World and the innovation and technology of the New World.”
Armenian businessman and owner of one of the largest taxi fleets in a state in the United States, Edward Tutunjian, fell in love with Chile on a vacation to the country. After falling in love with the country and the Chilean wine industry, he made the decision to invest in Chile, and his first move was the purchase of the vineyard “La Pancora” in the Curicó Valley. Later, he bought the vineyard “Huaquén” in Curepto, which is one of the most privileged in Chile, and to date has acquired “Viñedos y Bodega Apaltagua” in the Apalta Valley, Colchagua. Currently, Viña Apaltagua is present in five of the most important Chilean wine valleys.
Doors Open
Another of the most important events in the international investment race for the Chilean wine industry is the arrival of owners of châteaux in France, which is giving Chile the reputation of being a global benchmark, and is all the more necessary as in Europe climate change is making itself felt more and more in historic wine regions.
The Viña Los Vascos winery, located in the Colchagua Valley and owned by the prestigious Bordeaux winery Château Lafite-Rothschild, stands out as a symbol of biodiversity and sustainability in the Chilean wine industry. Adapting to its terroir, this vineyard from Château Lafite Rothschild adopts organic agriculture that is in tune with its environment and uses renewable energy sources and water-saving practices.
On the other hand, Undurraga Wines Group also stands out, of which José Yuraszeck, who owns approximately 45% of the company, is a member. He has an equal share with the Picciotto family, which has the remaining 55%. On July 15, 2024, the Bisquertt and J. Bouchon brands were added to the portfolio with operations of different quality levels, according to reports from the company.
Wineries Invest in Other Countries
The Chilean investments in wineries abroad, mainly in Argentina and the United States, have been key to wine portfolio diversification for various countries. Chilean families are leading players in wine making in Argentina, not only due to their interest in developing different wine valleys, with growing sectors such as the Uco Valley, but also thanks to the boom of the Malbec variety. In this regard, wines from Argentine brands such as Trivento, Dona Paula, Bodegas Renacer and Kaiken among others, stand out, all with Chilean capital. Chilean winemakers have also been active in the United States. In the Empire State, Brotherhood Winery, a reference in wine tourism in the United States, is Chilean. In California, Chilean wineries are also not lacking, including the emblematic Huneeus Wines group, which owns internationally recognized wineries such as Quintessa, Favia Wines, Benton-Lane, Leviathan, Faust, The Pact, as well as Flowers Vineyards & Winery, among others.
Maximiliano Morales emphasizes: “It would be an excellent opportunity for the Argentinean market to position itself as a very attractive market for Argentinean investors to diversify their portfolios with wines from Chile’s most prestigious valleys, thus allowing them to access trade agreements that open more doors. I think it’s time for more Argentinean winemakers to cross the Andes and produce Chilean wine with Argentinean capital, just as Chileans have done in Argentina.”
A Taste of Wine Investment in Chile
It is precisely to make clear the importance of the wine industry as a magnet for investment in Chile that the Valparaíso Regional Productive Development Committee—CORFO—has made a special effort, such as organizing the Wine Innova Tech 2024 Seminar through the Viraliza CORFO program in May, in Viña del Mar, Chile, as an international and highly recognized seminar.
Maximiliano Morales, Project Manager of the Seminar and Founder of AndesWines.com, presented the official protocols to launch Chile’s first Private WineTech Fund. The activation of this investment fund could allow financing of an entire series of innovative projects in the Valparaíso Region of Chile focused on wine facing issues and challenges such as: climate change and adaptation, sustainability and decarbonization in all its lines, as well as the implementation of cutting-edge technology in winemaking and vine genetics. We can say that Chile is critical in this, since the Chilean wine industry is the one that has the largest area of surface ungrafted European vines in the world. The WineTech investment fund is currently suspended, but is expected to resume its activities in the coming months.
Capturing the Investment Potential of the Chilean Wine Industry
Chile’s wine industry is at a turning point that will attract investment from all over the world, with the Chilean wine industry as a key investment magnet with new strategic alliances. The combination of high-quality grapes, terroirs, and already consolidated brands has made Chile a key destination for wine investments worldwide.
The Chilean wine industry is going to continue to attract investment capital, expand its reach, and become even more of a global player in the Premium wine segment in the coming years. This is the case, for example, with the wine industry in the Coquimbo Region, where more than 27 luxury cruise ships from all over the world arrive every year and a large percentage of its passengers disembark in the Elqui and Limarí Valleys to taste the local wines and piscos, an initiative that is headed by Turismo Ingservtur, and which has aroused growing interest in luxury wine tourism in the region.
In this context, AndesWines.com is the perfect tool, with the necessary tools and knowledge of the investment sector. Strategic action is taken both in Chile as well as in the global investment community, and targeted to family offices of local and foreign investors who are in the search for profitable investment opportunities in Chile, with a stable and growing market, or for families interested in knowing how to sell their business, which also allows them to reach potential acquirers, both national and foreign. This can be through brand purchases, co-investments, or business alliances with wineries and families that are already known in the wine trade.