VIK Millahue

Producer history

Viña VIK was founded in 2006 by Norwegian entrepreneur Alexander Vik and his wife Carrie Vik, after they spent roughly two years searching Chile and other South American wine regions for a site capable of producing a wine to rival the world's best. They acquired some 4,300 hectares in the Millahue Valley (Cachapoal), a site with twelve distinct micro-valleys and coastal-to-Andean wind exposure. Roughly 327 hectares were planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenère, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Syrah. The estate's winery was designed by Chilean architect Smiljan Radic, with the adjoining luxury hotel by a separate architect; the estate complex was completed in 2014. VIK is explicitly a 21st-century, capital-intensive entrant into Chilean fine wine rather than a multi-generational family estate.

Signature pairings

• Grilled ribeye with chimichurri — The wine's dense tannin and new-oak structure need the char and fat of grilled beef to soften; the herbal chimichurri echoes the wine's lavender-thyme-rosemary aromatics.
• Braised beef massaman curry (แกงมัสมั่นเนื้อ) — Massaman is a mild, warm-spiced curry with tender braised beef; its sweetness and roasted spice depth complement ripe black-fruit and oak-spice notes without clashing tannin against capsaicin heat.
• Aged hard cheese (Manchego or similar) — A firm, nutty aged cheese has enough fat and salt to stand up to the wine's full tannic grip without a hot-spice clash.