How we work
We are a first-generation cellar. We have grown working with small farmers as we tried to find our way from harvest to harvest in a traditional farming community left behind by the mainstream wine business —later, we realised the farmers had been at crossroads of their own looking for a way forward.
The family farms practised mixed agriculture with grains, vegetables, livestock and grapes.
Monoculture can be efficient, but it is not a healthy way to farm. Parto of the balance in our bottles comes from the diversity on the carms where we grow your fruit.
he more mainstream large-grower model had not worked for us in Maipo, so we looked for a way to complement what existed in order to be able to revive old vineyards full of potential for fine wine —but that had been relegated to bulk wine at disadvantageous price T s.
We were not very practical, but we were curious. And the juice —the juice was more promising every year.
Today we continue to revive old vineyards —diamonds in the rough. We work across a veritable mosaic of parcels from Loncomilla to Empedrado
Our people, who work with us throughout the year from pruning through harvest are our growers most of our fruit. Other farms we rent long term.
Having spent years trying to mesh the ideas of doing the earthworks with horses and pruning on the waning moon, we have more lately begun to take on the challenges of regenerative agriculture together with our team. There is much to learn and learn to apply on a practical level, but together we continue to follow the juice.
The following are just some of our working parameters:
On Coastal Range of mountains (much older than Andes and more importantly much slower to cool and thus full of crystals, schist, granite and decomposed granitic intrusions.
Combination of original methods of cultivating the old vines ie. Farmed by hand and horse, accompanied by the lens, analysis and scientific ideas of Prof Alvaro Peña [Garage partner] and in-house PhD in Viticulture.
Applied regenerative farming, not for the certificate but because healthier fruit better balanced fruit makes for tastier wine— and tastier wine better business. Follow the juice.
Uncertified organic
Pruned with the moon cycles, but not to a modern bio-dynamic calendar, but rather with local custom.
Soon we shall have vineyards certified with Savory Institute
Precise focus on small pieces of the vineyard fermented separately in lagar fermenters with open-tops using punch down
We have been honing a group of farms with vineyards 1-3 hectares for twenty years now. Some are in the process of becoming ours, some are rented long-term, some a medias and some belong to our team of growers: Sauzal, Puico, Puico Alto, Caliboro . . .
