Abstract The Chilean wine industry performed remarkably well over the past decades. Wines from Chile have found their way to consumers all over the world. This paper explores the factors that have supported the successful performance. In particular, through a questionnaire to key informants it tries to measure to what extent conscious collective action by local stakeholders to solve common problems of the industry in Chile and thereby create a shared basis for upgrading, have been relevant. The conclusion is that natural endowments, commercial and technological impulses from abroad and a favorable business climate do go a long way to explain past successes. It also concludes that these factors will not suffice to sustain continued success. The paper analyzes the issues that present collective action problems for the Chilean wine industry and assesses the capacity of local actors, their organizations and institutions to meet these challenges.