Talagante is a wine-producing sub-region of the Maipo Valley in Chile. While it is not a particularly well-known DO (Denominación de Origen), Talagante is home to several established names in Chilean wine, including De Martino, Santa Ema and Undurraga. Cabernet Sauvignon and Carmenere are the varieties used to make the best locally grown Talagante wines.
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Located to the south-west of Santiago on the edge of the Maipo River, the viticultural zone of Talagante covers the same area as the administrative province of the same name. Talagante covers much of what is known as 'Central Maipo' – the valley floor between Alto Maipo in the foothills of the Andes Mountains and the ocean-influenced vineyards of Pacific Maipo. While Talagante is the biggest city in the province, Isla de Maipo in the south is a more important center of wine production in the region.
This relatively low-lying wine region is warmer and drier than its more prestigious neighbors of Puente Alto and Pirque in Alto Maipo. Cool breezes from the Maipo River create mesoclimates in Talagante, and growers must employ careful site selection to get the most out of the terroir. White-wine varieties such as Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc do best at the edge of the river, while red-wine varieties do better where they have some shelter from these breezes. The free-draining soils are rocky and alluvial, having been brought down from the Andes by the rivers than run through the region.
As is increasingly the case across New World wine countries, the location of Chilean wineries does not necessarily reflect the location of the vineyards from which the grapes are sourced. Talagante is one such case; a significant proportion of its wines are made from grapes sourced from Casablanca Valley, Leyda Valley and other areas within Maipo. Because it is located on the fast road (Ruta 78) to San Antonio, and near Ruta 68 and Ruta 5 to Casablanca and Cachapoal respectively, it is easy to see how this situation arises. To see Talagante specified on a label is rare – wines are usually labeled with the more prestigious and better-known term 'Maipo Valley'.
