The first known vintage in Chile was that of Don Francisco Aguirre, who had planted his vineyard some 800 kilometres north of Santiago. The grapes, like most of those first arrivals in South America, almost certainly came from the Catholic church, through the hands of Father Francisco de Carabantes. Under Spain's colonial rule the wine industry in Chile flourished, their wines were sold the length of the Pacific coast. None of this was quality wine, it was cheap and bountiful, so much so that by the seventeenth century the Jesuit missionaries were worried by its effects on the native Indians.

But it was in the mid-nineteenth century that Chilean wine production moved towards quality rather than quantity. Silvestre Ochagavia, known as the father of Chilean viticulture, realised that the climate and the soils were perfectly adapted for the making of fine wines. He imported the finest French vines to plant the fertile central valleys and soon Cabernet, Merlot, Pinot Noir and Semillon began to take the place of the more prolific, but less noble, earlier varieties. This early French influence has never left the Chilean wine industry - it has often been said that while Argentinian wines incline to a little sweetness in the Italian style, Chilean wines are more in the French style.

For the wine-maker Chile has much going for it. The soil is light and fertile, and the rainfall in most of the vine-growing areas is minimal, so through irrigation the grower has complete control of the water supply, and consequently the quality of the grapes. And there's a further plus, the phylloxera pest has never reached Chile, so planting a new vineyard means simply pushing vine cuttings into the ground two metres apart and waiting. After a year they are established vines and after three they are fruiting. A result of this ease in growing, is that nearly one in seven bottles of wines produced annually come from South America.

Despite this natural bounty, growers had to contend with repressive and restrictive laws designed to restrict wine production up to the 1970s. With the change in the political climate the industry has been able to grow since then and is currently enjoying a period of stability resulting in better quality wines. The best-known Chilean wines like Cousino Macul, Undurraga and Concha y Toro are all centred around Santiago, as is Villard.

Wine of the Week

Villard Pinot Noir 1999

Villard pride themselves on being makers of quality wines, and on the evidence of this wine they have some cause. A huge, big-bodied wine full of fruit and flavours it would need hearty food to stand up to it. Deep red in colour with lots of length, it's the product of the cooler Casablanca valley rather than the better-known Maipo.

Available O'Brien's off-licenses £12.95