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Garage Wine Co

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  • Wines
    • Cru
      • Cru Truquilemu Cariñena
      • Vigno Cariñena
    • Parcel Selection
      • Isidore V. Semillón
      • Truquilemu V. Cariñena
      • Renacido V. Cab Sauv Maule
    • Parcels / Vinos de Parcela
      • Pirque V. Cab Franc Maipo
      • Reelegido V. Cab Sauv Maipo
      • Las Higueras V. Cab Franc Maule
      • Old Vine Pale Rosé
      • Sauzal V. Gar/Car/Mon
      • Bagual V. Gar/Car/Mon
      • Pereira V. Syrah
      • Bagual V. Caliboro Garnacha
    • Single Ferment Series
      • País-Cariñena Phoenix Ferment
      • País 215 BC Ferment
      • Cinsault Soothsayer´s Ferment
      • San Francisco – Passageiro
      • Old-vine Field Blend
    • País OVR
    • Cabernet Sauvignon – OVR
    • Field Blend – OVR
    • País AlMaule
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¿Cómo sueño el vino chileno?

Saturday, 05 September 2026 by Derek Mossman Knapp

Reportaje La Cav

“Le pedimos a un grupo de productores, enólogos y protagonistas de la industria vitivinícola chilena que respondieran, en primera persona, sobre sus sueños, el vino que mejor representa al país y cómo deberíamos estar en el largo plazo.

– por Alejandro Jiménez

Derek Mossman Knapp. 

COFUNDADOR DE GARAGE WINE CO.

Una frase

Más vinos chilenos pensados para el sabor, con voluntad y propósito, no para el mercado ni el supermercado.

Un sueño

Mi sueño es que los orígenes dentro de Chile por fin se diferenciaran, como en VIGNO, y se apoyaran mutuamente.

Que los vinos de viejos viñedos / old vines se conviertan en una categoría propiamente tal.

Los chilenos acomodados empezarán a beber más allá del Maipo, más allá de los siete mil pesos, y más allá del cabernet y la carmenère, como lo hace el resto del mundo.

Los chilenos se darán cuenta de que, si uno quiere disfrutar el vino, no hace falta ser un experto: basta con juntar a amigos y familia en una mesa grande y abrir más de una botella a la vez, más seguido. Y se acordarán de invitar a los más jóvenes a que se alejen de las pantallas y se sumen a esa mesa.

Menos barrica, menos esnobismo, más respeto por el trabajo de la tierra.

Durante el último recambio generacional los precios bajaron para que los volúmenes pudieran subir. Con el próximo recambio generacional, la calidad y la identidad subirán para que los precios puedan seguirlas.

El discurso del rubro finalmente habrá cambiado a ser algo distinto -o más- que lo meramente técnico.

El vino que mejor representa al país

Cru Truquilemu, D.O. Empedrado, valle del Maule. Cariñena y syrah en mezcla de campo. Un caballo oscuro de pocas palabras. 

Necesita tiempo, pero envejece regio. Elegante. Largo en boca. Fresco. Y absolutamente desatado cuando se junta con una mesa feliz.

¿Cómo deberíamos estar en el largo plazo?

Creo que la industria siempre ha insistido en que el vino es uno solo -el industrial y el más fino- y que no hay ninguna razón por la que un productor industrial no pueda hacer también el mejor vino de Chile. Encuentro eso absurdo, y siempre lo ha sido.

Creo que por fin vamos a empezar a dividirnos un poco: vamos a tener vino industrial y granel por un lado, y otro grupo de precio más alto, más sano, más independiente, con intención. No solo los pequeños; también algunos grandes van a decidir hacer vino fino a una escala menor, pero distinguible del resto. Eso les va a dar más prominencia con sus clientes.

Hubo un cambio generacional en el que fuimos hacia abajo: los hijos de los pioneros, en lugar de tomar lo que les dio la familia y hacerlo más fino, pero fueron a buscar el granel. Creo que la próxima generación va a ir hacia el otro lado y lo va a llevar más arriba. Uno no espera que Jaguar o Ford hagan un Ferrari; Ferrari hace Ferrari, hace la categoría más sexy. El mejor auto del mundo no lo hace la empresa más grande de autos del mundo. En Chile tenemos la idea de que sí.

La Cav
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Vinos de autor – La Cav

Friday, 04 September 2026 by Derek Mossman Knapp

Por: Ana María Barahona A. 

Fotos Macarena Álvarez y agradecimientos viñas.

Dagaz y Garage Wine Co.

El carácter del Sur

Uno es una suerte de gusto personal de su creador  que se enamoró de Itata y quiso ampliar el registro de  su marca. El otro, es una mirada más relajada de un proyecto que fijó su residencia en los viñedos viejos del Maule.

Cuando Marco Puyo armó su marca personal “Dagaz”, todas las fichas estaban puestas en el campo que había adquirido años antes en la zona de Pumanque, Colchagua. Pero a poco andar, se dejó enamorar por las parras viejas del Itata que había mirado desde lejos en sus tiempos en San Pedro. “Hice algunos ensayos, y cuando ya había echado a andar Dagaz puse en la balanza no solo la mirada de empresario sino también el enólogo que quería hacer un vino de cinsault con todas esas cualidades: fresco, jugoso, fácil de tomar”, reconoce.

Esta etiqueta se une al portafolio “Parcelas de Granito” que habla de la vocación del enólogo por buscar perfiles de suelo que acompañen la matriz de Pumanque, con un viñedo que está en la zona de Guarilihue a 20 kilómetros en línea recta al mar y con parras que tienen 44 años en promedio. “Hemos crecido harto con esta etiqueta, y mi percepción es que el público agradece este estilo de vinos de taninos vibrantes y suaves a la vez”.

Pilar Miranda, socia y enóloga de Garage Wine Co., reconoce que fue dándose de manera natural una búsqueda menos intelectual y más relajada de la marca para ofrecer vinos de más fácil acceso como este Revival cabernet sauvignon. “Luego de un pedido del extranjero, nos dimos cuenta que podíamos ofrecer vinos de precios más atractivos para el público sin perder ni un poco de nuestra esencia por eso me gusta definir este cabernet como un vino con carácter, pero que se entiende solo”.

Revival proviene de viñedos viejos de cabernet sauvignon injertado sobre raíces de país de más de 100 años, y en algunas parcelas hay mezcla con pequeños porcentajes de país y malbec. “Nos gustó la idea de crecer con vinos de pueblo, y sumarnos a estas etiquetas que han salido de cabernet sauvignon del Maule. El nuestro quiere tener el estilo propio de Garage, sin perder la complejidad de la cepa”, afirma la enóloga.

La Cav
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Los más influyentes del vino – La Cav 2025

Friday, 25 April 2025 by Derek Mossman Knapp

Ana María Barahona

Periodista. Directora editorial Revista LA CAV.

Hola! Nuestra revista de mayo ya está comenzando a viajar por todo Chile, y por acá les cuento los titulares:
🍷Junto a Alejandro encuestamos a más de 40 personas para elegir a los personajes y proyectos más influyentes del vino chileno. Acá están las figuras que están llamadas a escribir los nuevos capítulos de esta historia (sí, son todas mujeres); los proyectos que producen mayor orgullo como imagen país, y aquellos referentes que siguen siendo fundamentales por su trayectoria.
🍹Celebramos al pisco chileno con un completo abecedario escrito por Consuelo @consuelog_ ;
🍛🍷Carlos @viajealsaborchile nos cuenta de los buenos nuevos tiempos del barrio Italia con clásicos que se reinventan, que persisten y otros que llegan a sumar. Varios de ellos con interesantes opciones para los amantes del vino;
🍷🥧 La periodista Daniela Tapia nos cuenta de su viaje al condado de Polk en Florida, donde no solo hay vida de astronautas también un puñado de opciones para comer y beber con actitud;
🍷Pude conversar en nuestro perfil con uno de los socios de @vinaaquitania, Bruno Prats a propósito de la persistencia por permanecer en Chile.
Su retrato es obra de @sebastian_utreras y la producción de @cayamacana;
🍷Y, en nuestra última página, les contamos de la importante celebración de ese gran cabernet de Peñañolén llamado Lázuli. @singleferments

7-Reportaje-Los-mas-influyentes-del-vino-eng

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Premiación La Cav 2024

Wednesday, 18 December 2024 by Derek Mossman Knapp

Thrilled to recognised by la Cav´s Mesa de Cata again this year. 

The authorities did not make it easy to produce San Francisco comercially, but we insisted, and insisted, and did it anyway. It is wonderful to have it recognised like this in its ´first´ commercial release. 

And many other wines showed well too!

Encantados de ser reconocidos nuevamente este año por la Mesa de Cata de La CAV. Las autoridades no lo pusieron fácil para producir San Francisco comercialmente, pero insistimos, e insistimos, y lo hicimos de todos modos. Es maravilloso tener este reconocimiento en su ‘primer’ lanzamiento comercial. ¡Y muchos otros vinos también se mostraron bien!

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La Cav: ratings for Garage wines

Saturday, 23 December 2023 by Derek Mossman Knapp

Ratings:

  • 97 points
    • Cariñena Cru Truiquilemu Vineyard Empedrado Maule 2019, 2020
    • VIGNO 2019
  • 96 points
    • Parcel Selection Renacido Vineyard Lot#124 2021
    • Isidore Vineyard Maule Valley Semillón 2020, 2021
    • País 215 BC Ferment 2020
    • Single Ferment Series Cinsault 2020
    • Sauzal Vineyard 2018
    • VIGNO 2018
    • Bagual Vineyard Garnacha Field Blend 2018
  • 95 points
    • VIGNO y Carignan Truquilemu Vineyard Lot#117 2021
    • Single Ferment Series Cinsault 2021
    • VIGNO Empedrado, Maule 2020
    • Cru Truiquilemu Vineyard 2019
    • Pirque Vineyard Lot#110 2019
    • Cru Truiquilemu Vineyard 2019
  • 94 points
    • Cinsault Soothsayers Ferment Single Ferment Series Coelemu Itata 2022
    • País 215 BC Ferment – Single Ferment Series País Maule 2022, 2021
    • Almaule País Maule 2022
    • Isidore Vineyard Semillón F5 Maule 2022
    • Almaule 2021
    • Bagual Vineyard Lot#116 Calivoro Maule 2020, 2019
    • Truquilemu Vineyard 2019
    • Renacido Vineyard 2019
    • Reelegido Vineyard Lot#111 del Maipo 2019
    • Sauzal Vineyard 2019
    • CRU Truquilemu 2018
    • Truquilemu Vineyard 2018
    • Pirque Vineyard 2018
La Cav
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Ganadores de Mesa de Cata – PODCAV

Friday, 23 December 2022 by Derek Mossman Knapp

Excellent talk. Recommended 🎧👌🏻

Listen to us at PodCAV where journalists Alejandro Jiménez @ajsusarte, Ana María Barahona @anam_barahona and Ana María Cumsille @amcumsille talk about our results in the 2023 Tasting Table Guide.

Excelente charla. Recomendada 🎧👌🏻

Escúchanos en lo PodCAV donde los periodistas Alejandro Jiménez @ajsusarte, Ana María Barahona @anam_barahona y Ana María Cumsille @amcumsille conversan sobre nuestros resultados en la Guía Mesa de Cata 2023.

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Alvaro ¨The Investigator¨

Friday, 16 December 2022 by Derek Mossman Knapp

Terrific to see our partner Alvaro ¨The Investigator¨ given some well deserved ink. Alvaro is a study in under statement in the classic English tradition. A wine scientist he has published a great deal of ink / of papers over the years although perhaps he is better known in the 
academic community for his teaching. Never one to toot his own horn— nor take the time to be interviewed come to think of it, he is today Chile´s representative for the OIV, various academic boards and scientific bodies to boot. Alvaro quietly spends a great deal of time with Pilar and I in the Garage. He is an essential part of our viticulture practices and a fundamental part of blending. Trained in Europe and very well wine travelled, with years consulting he remains acutely and technically curious. He has one of the best palates in Chile, and his humility forms an integral part of its application. We have learned a great deal from Chile´s investigador. @la.cav

Estupendo ver nuestro socio Alvaro ¨El Investigador¨ recibe un poco de tinta bien merecida en La Cav. Álvaro es piola en la clásica tradición inglesa. Un científico del vino que ha publicado una gran cantidad de tinta en los últimos años, aunque tal vez es más conocido en la comunidad académica por su docencia. Toma pocas oportunidades de ser entrevistado, hoy en día es el representante de Chile en la OIV y en varios consejos académicos y organismos científicos y también Premio Mérito Vitivinícola por sus colegas. En silencio, Álvaro pasa mucho tiempo con Pilar y conmigo en el garaje. Es una parte esencial de nuestras prácticas de viticultura y una pieza fundamental en el ensamblaje. Formado en Europa y muy viajado por el vino, con años de consultoría sigue siendo un perseguidor curioso. Tiene uno de los mejores paladares de Chile, y su humildad forma parte integral de su aplicación. Hemos aprendido mucho de El Investigador. 

#gwcogente#maule#maulechile#regiondelmaule#universidaddechile#gwcompanywines

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Garage 97 super premium, otra apuesta ganadora

Thursday, 01 December 2022 by Derek Mossman Knapp
Lacav-Garage-97-super-premium-2

La Cavwine awards
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Mesa de Cata La Cav 2022 – 2023

Sunday, 06 November 2022 by Derek Mossman Knapp

Very pleased with results of Mesa de Cata of La Cav this year. The wines did rather well tasted blind amongst their peers. If consistency is a virtue then the wines are virtuous indeed. [ The surgeon general recommends drinking various of our different bottlings / labels if you want to be more virtuous yourself 😊

Always good to see how wines do when tasted blind amongst their peers — all the more so a team of tasters come to agreement!

Read La Cav or better still click their subscribe button for the Magazine!

Más resultados de Mesa de Cata de La Cav. Estupendo ver que los vinos lo hacen bien catados a ciegas entre sus pares. De nuevo, si la constancia es una virtud, los vinos parecen ser virtuosos— y así se recomienda beber varias etiquetas si se quiere ser más virtuoso 😊.

Lea @LaCav o, mejor aún, haga clic en el botón de suscripción a la revista. Salud!
 @la.cav  @anam_barahona @eduardocubano @marcelopinowine @ajsusarte

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Reportaje La Cav: viña del año

Monday, 12 September 2022 by Derek Mossman Knapp

We do not like the category icon (is that one word or two?) but it is always nice to be considered with wines crafted with so much love and attention to detail.

criticsgaragewinecoLa Cavwine awards
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Recent Posts

  • ¿Cómo sueño el vino chileno?

  • Vinos de autor – La Cav

  • País Is Back: 5 Things to Know and 6 Wines to Try

  • Garage Wine Co – Old-vine Wrapped 2025

  • Pilar Miranda was awarded the Mérito Vitivinicola prize

  • Premio al Mérito Vitivinícola ANIAE 2025

  • Premiación 2025 Alistar Cooper MW by Catad’Or

  • Celebrating the Soul of Old Vine País: Introducing ALMAULE

  • Puntajes Vinous 2025

  • Garage on tour: Jun 2025

Garage Wine Co
Winery: Camino San Antonio Caliboro KM 5.8 San Javier 3660000
Región del Maule, Chile

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  • Caliboro

About Garage Wine Co.

Garage Wine began quite literally in Pilar and Derek’s Garage. After half a dozen vintages making wine for an informal market of family and friends, it began exporting to UK & Denmark in 2006

The Parcels

GWCo makes wines from a series of individual parcels, small lots / bottlings of 8 -22 barrels that include a series of dry-farmed field-blends of Carignan, Garnacha, Monastrell, País, Cinsault and Cab Franc grown on pre-phylloxera rootstock with small farmers in the Maule and Itata. Each wine is from a 1-2 hectare parcel in a different place: Bagual, Caliboro, Coelemu, Guarilihue, Loncomilla, Portezuelo, Puico, Ranquil, Sauzal, Truquilemu…

Over the years working in the community we have raised a veritable posse of vineyard hands whose skills are working the vineyards the old way / the traditional way— originario. We cultivate vineyards with small vigneron partners who work with horse and plough as his family has done for generations. Some of the parcels, where the next generation moved to the city, we have opted to rent long-term creating more work for the local hands who do want to stay on the farm.

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The vineyards are on the old Coastal Range of mountains closer to the Pacific — Chile’s other mountains. These are older and cooled more slowly so they have granitic soils, many with intrusions and cracks for roots to get deep down into. When GWCo. speaks of the provenance of our wines however we mean more than just the geology of the terroir. This is a good start, but we are convinced the farming practices that have evolved over generations have as much to do with the wines’ personalities as the soils. The regeneration of the vineyards long since neglected depends upon this farming.

GWCo. also makes an old-vine Cab Franc (old bush head vines) and a Cab Sauv blend in the Maule as well as two Cabs mountain-grown in the Maipo where the firm began in 2003.

All the wines are made by hand with native yeasts in small tanks, punched down manually and pressed out in a small basket press. GWCo is still very much a DIY operation and we still tow much of the crop back to the winery in trailers behind trusty pickup trucks 2,ooo kilos at a time.

Single Ferment Series Wines

Pais & Cinsault in the Secano Interior, the cradle of the original Chilean viticulture, have been forever the victim of commodity pricing. When GWCo saw its Carignan growers being paid paltry sums for their other fruit we began acquiring small bits from various farmers to experiment. From the beginning, we paid bonafide prices that would allow for the traditional field works to cultivate the soil properly to continue into the future. Commercial bottlings of “Single Ferments” began with serendipity when we simply could not resist not one but three small bits of Cinsault. And then promptly plain ran out of tanks to ferment them in. With nowhere to put all three, we simply stacked the second bit of newly harvested fruit on top of the first already fermenting—and then the third on top of both, creating one single fermentation from the fruit of three farms. We adopted the same technique with Pais and subsequently named both wines: Single Ferment Series.

The Nitty Gritty

In these times it is important to stand for what you believe in, and more importantly to build the kind of business you believe in. At Garage Wine Co. we revive old vineyards in marginalized Chilean communities to make coveted wines. We’ve positioned these wines in a dozen established fine wine markets around the world and we grow. The wines are not made to be expensive per se, but they are found on the higher shelves– they need to command a price that allows for proper farming. What we have discovered is that the long-term practices of regenerative farming not only make for better fruit and thus more flavourful wine, but that such a business can become a force for financial, community and environmental good.

The Baby and the Bathwater  

As South American wine exports have boomed over the last quarter-century, it has grown increasingly difficult for small farmers to sell their old-vine grapes at a proper price – a price that can consistently sustain family and community. Mainstream buyers want more for less and they would have the growers modernise. The modern wine business calls for spraying instead of cultivating, scaling instead of focusing, and above all: reducing the cost of labour. But with the old vineyards, the labour is precisely where one finds the wisdom of farming passed down through the ages. Throwing that away would be throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

Regenerative Farming

Farming in the Secano Interior, the Maule and Itata valleys of Southern Chile, has been a way of life since Colonial times. Not just vineyards, but mixed farming of heritage seed wheat, free-range livestock and local market produce. Small-scale farms use dry-farming methods: turning over the earth to capture scarce seasonal rainwater, and nutrients from the clever use of seasonal cover crops that in turn help sequester carbon from the air, and the use of horses to get into rows where tractors can’t reach.

This is where GWCo. works; too far from the comfort zone of those in the mainstream. These vineyards were neglected and relegated to bulk wine for decades because the booming market wanted branded varietals that didn’t command a price to support the work.

For more than a decade GWCo. has worked these old vines, there has been a marked improvement both in vineyard health and quality of the fruit produced.

The marrying of the fieldcraft of these small-scale farmers with the lens of modern science and GWCo’s mindful winemaking took a decade, but the marriage has proven successful not just for GWCo, but also for the farmers, our suppliers and customers alike. Over the past few years, we have begun to rent and in some cases acquire the property underneath the old vines. Today one-third of our production is worked our way with our own people.

Necessity was the mother of sustainability

Sustainability for us was never about seals and certifications. We became sustainable just trying to survive being small in an industry geared to the big. Vintage after vintage we made our way through a series of necessary work-arounds, finding a way forward, that only later would be seen to be sustainable.

Recycled bottles – Because our production runs were small we were challenged when it came to dry-goods. When bottle makers refused to deliver to us, we found a local bottle recycler who became a trusted partner. This small business employs workers in a rural part of the country where stable and safe work is hard to find. What we learned is that when bottles are manufactured they have a limited shelf-life on the factory patio—a best before date if you will. Today we buy these bottles and wash them before use. This is glass that would otherwise have been smashed and melted and remade—without ever having been used. What is the carbon footprint of a bottle manufactured twice to be used once?

Labels & Packaging— We learned to paint / silk-screen bottles because our bottlings were so small that the label printers did not want to work with us. The industry was geared to long print runs and said there was no money in printing 1200 labels. So we built a custom machine and found experienced hands with silk-screening. Luis, our bottle painter, has been painting bottles for us for 11 years now. (Chile’s first hotel built entirely of recycled materials: The WineBox, has adapted out bottles for their lamps today.)

What’s with the wax? - Regular capsules were also sold with a minimum far larger than our needs, so we found a school supply firm that would make us food-safe wax for seals from crayon wax.

All of these workarounds-- bothers slash hassles at the time, led to a positive and durable differentiation in packaging. We have continued to work with earth-friendly inks for silk screening and recycled materials for cases.

Fermentation tanks: Unable to buy new tanks— designed to make mainstream wines, large, expensive and inflexible in their design, we took the leftover cuttings and scraps of a large stainless manufacturer and pieced together Lagars (traditional word for open tanks). We did it for far less money and the upcycling created opportunities for local welding shops.

Fruit: Years ago we bought from mainstream growers. When we made a crackerjack wine, the grower would use the prestige with critics to sell our fruit to someone bigger / better known leaving us without said fruit and without continuity in our portfolio. After two or three experiences such as this, frustrated, we went South to the Secano to work with growers unknown, unpolished, and disconnected from the mainstream. Working closely with small growers far from the beaten path, we found diamonds in the rough. When the polishing was done we had forged a bond with the growers—partnerships that we have continued to build upon with others in the neighbourhood.

Diverse leadership

Let’s face it, the wine business can be conservative, clubby and patriarchic. Having a female lead our work helps us work with our growers and suppliers on a different footing. We also like to mix scientists with field hands. Instead of contracting the cheapest bused-in labour, we keep it local where there are more experienced hands. Mercenary piecework doesn’t work — proper sourcing does. It’s a mouthful, but in a phrase: the difference created by the discretionary effort released when you work in good faith with local farmhands is so much more than the savings that might be achieved from cost-cutting, that there’s no comparing the two. We have never looked back.

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T: +56 9 9750 0379
Email: info@garagewineco.cl

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