I was recently at the youth hockey rink — where I spend more than a good part of my time from September to March each year watching my kids play — when another parent asked me if I knew much about wines from South America. She was keen on expanding her interests beyond the domestic market and had heard that wines from Chile, in particular, represented a “good value.” Having recently attended a tasting that featured the wines of Lapostolle from Chile, I was quick to correct her, and replied, “No, they represent a great value.”

Lapostolle was founded in 1994 by the legendary family behind Grand Marnier. When Alexandra Marnier Lapostolle first arrived in Chile’s Colchagua Valley, she clearly recognized the potential the region had for producing world class wines. After all, the region had grape vines originating from pre-phylloxera rootstock (phylloxera is a small insect that is deadly to grape vines) that had been brought to Chile from Bordeaux in the 1800s. Lapostolle’s goal was to incorporate high-end French winemaking practices with the ideal climate of Chile to produce high-end quality wines.