Elqui

What do astronomers and winegrowers have in common? Clear skies and pure light. Elqui has both. Here at the southern edge of the Atacama Desert, the sun works its magic on the grapes by day and the stars dazzle by night.

The area has long been known for its table grapes, papayas, and other fruits, as well as Chile’s distilled spirit Pisco, but new vineyards explore the terrain from coast to high into the Andes—up to 2000 meters (6,500 feet) above sea level—for wine grapes with amazing results, especially with the attention-grabbing cool-climate Syrah.
Thanks to the weather conditions, the best pisco (brandy-like liquor) is produced here and it is also the ideal place for astronomical research. It is the birthplace of the country’s greatest female poet and literature Nobel Prize winner: Gabriela Mistral.

Pronunciation guide: EL-kee (Valley)

• Wineries in the area

  Falernia

• Hotels

  Misterios del Elqui (pisco Elqui)
  Elqui Domos (Pisco Elqui)
  Enjoy Hotel de la Bahia (Coquimbo)

• Restaurants

  Hostería Vicuña
  Hacienda Miraflores (pisco Elqui)

• Tourist Attractions

  Towns of Pisco Elqui, Cochiguaz, Vicuña and Monte Grande (Nobel prize poet’s Gabriela Mistral birth town) and el Molle
  Pisco Distilleries (Centro Turístico Planta Capel with a Pisco Museum, Pisco Aba, Pisco Mistral
  Centro Turístico Los Artesanos de Cochiguaz, pisquería artesanal Los Nichos (oldest one in the valley and 100% organic)
  Observatories (Tololo y Mamalluca)
  Embalse Puclaro
  Cities of La Serena and Coquimbo