Set on a hilltop in Chile’s Millahue Valley against a backdrop of the Andes mountains, VIK Wine is a project that was brought to life by Alexander and Carrie VIK, the founders of VIK Retreats, a small group of unique, luxury retreats with properties in Chile, Uruguay, and Italy. The husband and wife team developed and carefully curated the design and experience at each of their properties to infuse each property with its own unique artistic identity that fuses seamlessly with its land and culture of origin.
The 1300-acre VIK Wine property features a hotel and retreat known for its iconic undulating, shimmering bronzed titanium roof. Vina VIK features a state-of-the-art sustainable energy-powered winery and 1000 planted acres of vines set on thousands of hectares of land.
The VIK Chile Retreat and Hotel
The VIK Chile hotel was Designed by Alexander and Carrie Vik in association with Uruguayan architect Marcelo Daglio, and inspired by the mountains, the wind, and the work of Frank Gehry and Richard Serra. The hotel, with its floating, golden-shimmering sculptural roof, boasts 360-degree views out across the surrounding vineyards and nature. The roof, and its golden appearance, are also a nod to the name that the native Mapuche people gave to the Millahue Valley, where the hotel is nestled. They called the valley “Lugar de Oro” or “Golden Place”.
Featuring 29 rooms, the hotel is filled with artwork by Chilean and South American artists. Each room also showcases a distinctive artist or artistic personality. For example, one notable room at VIK Chile is the La Patricia room, named after the local artist Patricia Fernandez, and is filled with works that depict the river flowing through the undulating hills of the Millahue Valley.
Other rooms include the Cienfuegos, named for Gonzalo Cienfuegos, the Chilean artist who designed VIK Wine’s now iconic La Piu label, and the Retro Room styled with Art Deco furniture and art nouveau works.
The VIK Winery
Designed by Chilean architect, Smiljan Radic, known for his design of the Serpentine Pavillion in London, VIK’s winery was designed with sustainability in mind–as well as incorporating the unique landscape and terroir at VIK into the esthetic. From the walkway into the winery which passes over water and stones to the modest exterior–much of it, subterranean–the mountains, vineyards, and landscape take center stage.
The winery relies solely on self-generated energy, incorporating free cooling, solar power, and natural insulation. A water mirror effectively cools barrel room temperatures without any additional energy consumption, while the ambient humidity facilitates temperature regulation, ensuring optimal energy utilization. The transparent roof enables daytime operations without the need for artificial lighting, and the insulated cellar manages temperature variations during both cooling and heating processes, resulting in reduced overall energy demands.
VIK Vineyards, Terroir, and Farming
VIK’s terroir offers a majestic and natural landscape composed of 12 valleys, each with its own unique micro-climate, and distinct exposures, all within a wind tunnel cooled by Pacific coastal breezes and winds from high up in the Andes mountains that provide VIK with enormous complexity and exceptional variety.
Winemaker Cristian Vallejo planted Cabernet Sauvignon, Carménère, Merlot, Syrah, and Cabernet Franc after conducting meticulous soil, meteorological, and land exposure testing. After spending years at prestigious estates in Bordeaux, Cristian brings an Old World style and touch to VIK’s wines-melding Bordeaux varietals with New World and Chilean varietals. His approach to winemaking is based on optimizing each stage of grape growing and wine production while also integrating science and technology to achieve the perfect maturity in each unique valley and site on the property, as well as ensure that only the best, most perfectly ripe fruit makes it into the tank.
After farming and fermentation, it’s the blending that takes center stage and Cristian is an expert at crafting elegant blends that get better with age. VIK Winery has been ranked in the top ten of the World’s Best Wineries for several years running–moving up from #8 in 2021 to #4 in 2022.
Sustainability
At VIK, sustainable development is at the heart of the company’s mission. Their actions at VIK focus on mitigating, recovering, and improving the land. As a part of their commitment to regenerative agriculture, VIK has committed to planting only a small percentage of their land with vineyards and has planted over 590 new, native trees on the property including quillay, peumo, and litre.
VIK Winemaking
Natural, use of native yeasts, etc. Combination of new and neutral French Oak Barrels. The winery makes and toasts its own barrels on-site using French oak staves, toasted over a fire that burns oak trees from the winery’s property. Cristian’s long-term goal is to eventually be able to incorporate Chilean oak from VIK’s own property into the winery’s barrel regime and he’s already started experimenting (though the available wines commercially have only been barreled in French oak).
VIK Wines
VIK Wine is best known for their flagship VIK wine, a Bordeaux style blend made every year with different percentages of Cabernet Sauvignon, Carménère, Merlot, Syrah, and Cabernet Franc depending on what Cristian selects as the best blend after barreling all of the wines. However, their La Piu Belle wine has also become iconic thanks to its unique label art.
VIK Wine Questions:
Who owns Vik Winery?
Alexander and Carrie VIK, the founders of VIK Retreats
Where is Vik Winery?
In the Cachapoal Valley of Chile
Location and Contact Information:
Hacienda Vik, Millahue, Cachapoal Province, Chile