Vendimia Gratitud del Itata

Vendimia Gratitud del Itata is one of the wine festivals that anchors the Itata Valley calendar, drawing both local visitors and international wine travellers each year. It is held at Viña Cortez Las Pataguas in Portezuelo, in the heart of one of Chile's most distinctive wine areas. It is an annual event with an established local audience and a consistent place in the regional calendar. Intimate winery-hosted harvest celebration with strong local identity and community focus. Harvest and grape festivals — fiestas de la vendimia, festas das vindimas, weinlesefeste — are some of the longest-running celebrations in their regions, with many running uninterrupted for a century or more. Programmes typically combine grape-stomping demonstrations, traditional music, parades of allegorical floats, food stalls offering regional specialities, and tastings of the area's wines. The events have strong local character and are often as much community celebrations as wine programmes, with town councils, parish committees and local producer associations sharing the organisational load. Many festivals incorporate religious elements — blessings of the harvest, processions to the parish church — that connect the wine calendar to the liturgical year. The event is organised by Viña Cortez, which sets the tone and direction of the programme each year. The Itata Valley in southern Chile is the country's most exciting emerging wine region, with viticulture dating back to the 16th century but only recently rediscovered by international wine media. The region is dominated by old-vine, dry-farmed, mostly bush-trained vineyards of País, Cinsault, Moscatel, Corinto and other historic varieties. The granite-and-clay soils, Pacific influence and high altitude produce wines of remarkable freshness and personality. Producers like Roberto Henríquez, Pedro Parra y Familia, A los Viñateros Bravos and Cacique Maravilla have made Itata a reference for natural and minimal-intervention winemaking in South America. The 2026 edition is scheduled for 28 February 2026. Cost details are best confirmed directly with the organiser ahead of travel. Full programme, ticketing and updated information are published on the official site at https://vendimiasdechile.cl. Visitors are advised to check directly with the organiser for the latest schedule, as festival programmes are sometimes updated close to the event date. The Itata Valley is reached most easily from Concepción (1 hour by car) or Chillán (45 minutes by car), with the historic towns of Quirihue and Coelemu at the heart of the wine area. The valley pairs wine tourism with the volcanic landscape of the Chillán Andes (Termas de Chillán hot springs and ski resort), the Atacama-influenced south, and the Bio Bio region's strong indigenous Mapuche cultural heritage.