Chile's Norte Verde – limestone oases in the desert

Despite desert-like conditions, great wines are coming from pockets of limestone along Chile’s northern Pacific Coast. The Talinay vineyard in coastal Limarí is pictured above.

Tuesday, 25 February 2025 • 15 min read
Talinay vineyard

Using ‘Norte Verde’ (The Green North) to refer to Chile’s arid northern landscape might sound like an oxymoron. Yet it has been coined by a group of intrepid producers to promote the green vineyard oases that dot the landscape nearing the Atacama Desert. ‘The Norte Verde is the term we use to refer to the coastal areas of Limarí and Huasco’, explains Héctor Rojas, head viticulturist of Tabalí, one of the key protagonists in this...