Clos Apalta Residence – Relais & Chateaux
APALTA VALLEY, COLCHAGUA
Clos Apalta is a family business with pedigree. Grand Marnier heiress, Alexandra Marnier-Lapostolle, and her husband Cyril de Bournet crossed the Atlantic in 1994 to set up a Chilean winery. Vitivinicultura flows through the veins of her son, the current owner, 7th generation wine-maker Charles-Henry de Bournet Marnier. The happy combination of French skill and Chilean terroir created the much-lauded Clos Apalta wines. In 2018 they were awarded their own Denomination of Origin to recognise the winery’s unique microclimate.
Founded in 2011 with six new villas created in 2024, guests feel they have the key to the owner’s world of winemaking. Ten stand-alone rooms (4 casitas and 6 villas) perch in the hills above the main lodge and winery, with dawn to dusk views over the vineyards. Furnished with French and Spanish antiques alongside Chilean works of art, each light-filled residence is very spacious and individually decorated. They consist of a bedroom, living room and spa-like bathroom as well as a sprawling sundeck. The villas boast their own plunge pools.
Quick Facts
Number of Rooms: 10 in total (4 Casitas and 6 Villas).
Room Categories: The Casitas are 1022 square feet with a 376-square-foot private terrace, and they have a fireplace. The Villas are 1184 square feet with a 592-square-foot private terrace including a plunge pool.
Booking Options: Bed & Breakfast, Half Board and Full Board.
Rates: From $900USD per night B&B in Low Season. For Full Rates see here.
Minimum Stay: None.
Dates of Operation: Year round (High Season September 16th to May 30th and Low Season is June 1st to September 15th).
Membership: Relais & Chateaux (since 2011).
Spa Services: Fitness centre with gym equipment, sauna, steam bath, and hot tub. 6 new villas have plunge pools.
Amenities: Rooms are non-smoking with air-conditioning, wifi, Nespresso machine, various teas, mini bar and safety deposit box. Bathrooms have a separate bathtub and shower stocked with L’Occitane products and hair dryers.
Internet: Complimentary wifi throughout the property.
Reservations: +56722953360 reservas@closapalta.com
Rates & Key Info
“…the overall ambiance feels a bit like a five-star treehouse; fully integrated with nature and the surroundings but still marvellously swanky.”
— Forbes Magazine
VINEYARD
A protective oval of wood-covered hills surround the valley, creating a temperate microclimate. The native forest creates a barrier against the outside world, so guests are able to lose themselves in the rhythm of the wine-making process.
Clos Apalta boasts a state of the art winery, which begins above ground level and stretches four floors beneath. Reached via a corkscrew staircase which spirals down through the bedrock, at the bottom, it culminates in a wine cellar. The wines are 100% gravity fed and the natural cool environment of their granite chamber provides the perfect conditions for cellaring and ageing. Guests can enjoy tours of the winery as well as tastings of a wide range of blends and varieties.
CUISINE
Born and raised in the Colchagua Valley, Chef Leonel Diaz proudly exhibits the best of local produce, pairing wines and companionable, seasonal dishes – and just like the wines, these dishes are created under the philosophy of "French in essence, Chilean by birth”. Guests have particularly enjoyed accompanying him to the local market to choose their own ingredients and learn to cook it back in the kitchen.
Additional Information
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The Colchagua Valley
The Colchagua Valley is often dubbed “red wine heaven” and is one of South America’s most important wine producing regions thanks to the excellent terroir - its favourable mix of topography, climate and soil. Primarily producing Cabernet, Carménère and Syrah the region is relatively new in comparison to its neighbouring valleys. It was planted with wine tourism in mind, resulting in a number of state of the art wineries with fantastic tasting rooms and cellars.
Time Zone - GMT - 5
Currency - The Chilean Peso
Visa Requirements - Citizens of the UK and Ireland and EU passport holders do not need a visa to visit Chile. If you hold a passport from a country or territory outside of these areas, you may need to apply for a visa before you travel.
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The hotel is exclusively for guests aged 18 years and above.
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B&B: Buffet and à la carte breakfast.
Half Board: 5-course dinner with wine pairing and non-alcoholic beverages. Tour of Clos Apalta winery, including a tasting in the family cellar. One daily activity (per night from the second night onwards).
Full Board: Lunch with wine pairing and non-alcoholic beverages. 4-course dinner with wine pairing and non-alcoholic beverages. Tour of Clos Apalta winery, including a tasting in the family cellar. One daily activity (per night from the second night onwards ) Visit to the Colchagua Museum. Tea time.
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Visit the winery - tours last for approximately an hour and finish with a tasting. Guests can also take an Oenology course and get involved with the harvest (March, April and May).
Cooking classes with Chef Leonel Diaz (individual or as part of a group) can be arranged as well as picnics and BBQs in the vineyards.
Surrounded by beautiful countryside, Clos Apalta is the ideal base for excursions on foot, mountain bike or on horseback. There are many opportunities to spot wildlife just on a wander - foxes, peregrine falcons and eagles are commonly sighted.
Further afield, the hotel can arrange visits to the local market, the Colchagua museum in Santa Cruz and tours of local vineyards.
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Highly regarded as one of the best wines produced in Chile, Clos Apalta is the winery’s signature blend, and it makes 29 wines in total. Almost half of the total production here is premium wine. The harvest begins in early March and by the end of June it is complete. The vines are all hand harvested because 50% of the vineyards carpet the hillside which is inaccessible for machinery. The soil in the Colchagua Valley is a mix of silt, granite and clay and vines planted on its hill sides benefit from free-draining land and this forces the vines to “work” resulting in smaller grapes, but with a stronger flavour.
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Clos Apalta has an ambitious environmental policy which includes measures to prevent food and energy waste, and the recycling of waste and water. The philosophy of its wine business is entirely focused on a respect for the nature that surrounds it. Practices focus on reducing the property’s environmental impact, for example its compost and water treatment plants are 100% organic and energy saving. They also have a waste management program which minimises liquid and solid waste, and sorts plastic, glass and cardboard waste. In addition to all of this, the vineyards have been certified 100% organic, and their wine exports have been awarded CarbonNeutral® status.
Property Location
Clos Apalta is set in the Colchagua Valley, just outside the town of Santa Cruz and about 120 miles (2.5 hours drive) southwest of Santiago. (Google Map link)
Getting there: British Airways operates a nonstop flight between London Heathrow (LHR) and Santiago Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (SCL) 4 times a week. Flight duration is 14 hours 35 minutes. You can also connect via Europe (eg. Madrid or Paris) or via South America (Sao Paolo, Buenos Aires, Bogota etc). The direct flight is an overnight arriving into Santiago at 7.30am the following day.
