Thousands of boxes of these are exported to the American market annually. Grape growing in Chile is a very important agricultural endeavour and one that is of great concern to the people involved and to the government, particularly, the Internal Revenue Department. This section of the government is charged with controlling every step of the wine's process, from planting the grapes until the time they are purchased by the consumer. Supervison is strict concerning labeling, quality, and standards. There are good but rather sweet sparkling wines produced largely by bulk process.
Chile also produces some sherry and port types as well as vermouth.
Until a few years, the largest volume of wine sold in Chile had been the ones labeled Tinto or Blanco . These were sold in grocery stores in the typical Chilean wicker-covered demijohn of five to ten liters called a chuico. However, premium wines are abundantly offered in the traditional European bottles in fine grocery stores, clubs, restaurants, and hotels. In spite of the fact that wine production in Chile still uses the classical varieties, wine-producers, in the last few years, have begun to develop new proyects with new varieties imported mainly from France. Thus, near the year 2000 Chile should be able to offer new and more diverse labels.