Choapa Province is one of the

provinces A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...

making up the Coquimbo Region of Chile. It has an area of 10,079.8 km² and a population of 81,681. The capital of the province is the town of

Illapel Illapel () is a Chilean city, which is the capital of the Choapa Province, Coquimbo Region. It lies along the Illapel River and marks the country's narrowest point along a parallel (94 km). It is located to the east of Los Vilos. Admini ...

Administration

The current presidential provincial delegate is Nataly Carvajal.

Communes

The province is divided into four

communes A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

(''comunas'') administered by four municipalities: *

Salamanca Salamanca () is a Municipality of Spain, municipality and city in Spain, capital of the Province of Salamanca, province of the same name, located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is located in the Campo Charro comarca, in the ...

* Los Vilos * Canela

Geography and demography

According to the 2002 census by the National Statistics Institute (''INE''), the province spans an area of and had a population of 81,681 inhabitants (41,578 men and 40,103 women), giving it a population density of . Between the 1992 and 2002 censuses, the population grew by 4.6% (3,603 persons).

Choapa Valley wine region

The Choapa Valley is located 400 km (250 mi) north of

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

, in the southern part of the

Region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

Coquimbo Coquimbo is a port List of cities in Chile, city, Communes of Chile, commune and capital of the Elqui Province, located on the Pan-American Highway, in the Coquimbo Region of Chile. Coquimbo is situated in a valley south of La Serena, Chile, La S ...

, and is named after the province of “Choapa”. This area is within the narrowest part of Chile, where the

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

meet the Coastal range. The small valley consists of two sectors,

and

. There are no wineries in any of these sectors, but vines planted on the rocky, foothill soils produce small quantities of high quality

Syrah Syrah (), also known as Shiraz, is a dark-skinned grape variety grown throughout the world and used primarily to produce red wine. In 1999, Syrah was found to be the offspring of two obscure grapes from southeastern France, Dureza and Mondeuse ...

and

Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebano ...

grapes with high acidity and low pH, which is increasing the interest for the area among many wine producers. Only one brand of wine, De Martino Syrah, currently holds the

D.O. Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO or D.O., or in Australia DO USA) is a medical degree conferred by the 38 osteopathic medical schools in the United States. DO and Doctor of Medicine (MD) degrees are equivalent: a DO graduate may become lice ...

of “Choapa Valley”.

Grape distribution by varietal

* Climate: Desert-like climate. 100 mm (4.5 in) of rain per year. High luminosity. * Soils: clay, silt, and chalk. * Primary grape varietals:

and

. * Total Hectares planted: 96 ha (237 acres) See Choapa Valley Chart
www.winesofchile.org retrieved October 11, 2013

References