Codpa Valley

Codpa lies in a valley cut into the desert south-east of Arica, watered by a stream and terraced for fruit - guava, mango, figs and vines - in a strip of green with absolute desert on both sides. Its wine is the reason people come: pintatani, a dark sweet wine made from a local grape by a method that has been passed down in the valley since the colonial period and is made nowhere else, fermented and aged in clay and sold by the families who make it. Production is small. The valley also carries rock art and traces of the caravan routes that ran between the coast and the altiplano.

What you actually see

• A green valley in bare desert - terraced and watered by a stream.
• Pintatani wine - a sweet local wine made nowhere else.
• Made by families - small production, sold direct.
• Rock art on the slopes - from the caravan routes.

When to go

Year round. A full day.

Honest expectations

The road in is long and partly gravel. Producers are households and need finding rather than visiting a cellar door. Services in the valley are minimal. It is a long detour from anywhere.

Nearby

Arica is north-west; the Azapa and Lluta valleys are on the other roads inland.