Chile has had a name for trustworthy wines with great value for a long time. It has wowed us with fun and diverse styles and precise viti-vini prowess that expresses the micro-terroirs, varieties’ properties (even clones), and winemakers ’aspirations and pursuits. We have covered some great value bottles for those who seek lighter, laidback, and very drinkable reds, and now for whites, semillon has become our go-to grape in the country for interesting wines and styles ranging from natural, “orange,” dry-farmed, or even flor-aged wines.

Bouchon has been one of the front-runners for old-vine semillons in Chile. Bouchon Semillon Valle de Maule Las Mercedes Skin 2019 is great for those who love savory bite and structure in their white wines, as the wine undergoes a year of lengthy aging on skins in amphoras. Similarly, as a wine that strives to be as natural as possible but with only one month of skin contact, Charlie Villard’s semillon is equally mesmerizing and complex, cloudy but very refined, which develops lemon drops, mango, pomelo, and grapefruit rind followed by a seamless palate. I remember getting starry-eyed when Charlie Villard himself described it to me as “a wine for the winemaker himself.” For a macerated style, Maturana Semillon Colchagua Costa Parellon 2019 and Garage Wine & Co Semillon Valle de Maule Isidore Vineyard 2018 are great examples of partial skin contact done right, giving these semillons more bite and phenolic backbone than acidity alone could provide.

Carmen Valle de Colchagua Florillón 2018 is a tribute to Jura made from old-vine semillon from Apalta and biologically aged in used barrels for at least six months, during which a thin layer of flor appears and gives the wine a briny, yeasty, and saline smack.

Carmen’s other label – Carmen Semillon Valle de Colchagua Quijada 2018 – is a little more orthodox, along with “Granito” semillon that Bouchon makes from Maule with ambient yeast and minimal intervention, but still aged in used oak barrels. Both dry-farmed in granite-rich soil, they show an alluring nose with a smooth, somewhat waxy palate with the brightness and the concentration of fruit underscored.

Chile’s close neighbor Argentina also produces some very impressive semillons from either Mendoza or Patagonia (see our Argentine Great Value recommendations earlier). Producers like Mendel, El Enemigo, Matias Reccitelli and Noemia are our go-to producers. There is good reason to believe the grape has found another home in Latin America despite a very niche demand and small production. Today, Chile is rewriting the story of one of the most neglected and ousted varietal wines in the world, with some thought-provoking wines from old vines showing a blissful, natural sensibility.

However, with the following seven bottles under $30, we have not necessarily gone for fashionable styles such as natural or orange wine, as they are more complex than those loosely defined terms. This list focuses on Chilean semillons that are fun and rare, with immense drinkability and great value.

– Zekun Shuai, associate editor