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Bio Bio

Sur Natural wine association and producers in chile. Guide to Chilean wine

Introducing Sur Natural: The natural wine association of Itata and Bio Bio

by Amanda Barnes August 18, 2022

There’s a new wine association in Chile to know about… Sur Natural — an association of small, independent wine producers making natural wines in Itata and Bio Bio. Founded by six wineries, Sur Natural is an association with producers focused on making minimal-intervention, natural wines from dry-farmed old vines in the southern regions of Itata and Bio Bio.

Founded with the aid of funds from Corfo, Sur Natural is comprised of Zaranda (Itata), Tinto de Rulo (Bio Bio), Viña de Neira (Itata), Viña Doña Luisa (Bio Bio), Gustavo Riffo (Itata) and Viña San Lorenzo (Bio Bio). “We share a vision together for making wines from these important historic wine regions, and focused on natural wine production,” explains Juan Ignacio Acuña of Viña Zaranda.

“As we are all very small producers, it can be very hard to present Itata and Bio Bio internationally, which is why we are working together to show the great diversity we have within the wine regions and the growing importance of natural wines. We are also working together for all the vineyards and growers in the association to get organic certification as part of Sur Natural. We all have a different personal vision though, and each producer is very passionate about their place and how to best show it through our wines.”

Main image of Viña Zaranda

The natural wine producers of Sur Natural

Viña Doña Luisa

Guide to the natural wines of Chile and Sur Natural association — Photo by Small Batch

The Cea family have owned their vineyards in Millapoa in Bio Bio for more than six generations, and their incredible País vines are over two hundred years old. The combination of the age of these ungrafted vines, the moderate temperature in the region and black volcanic sand soils, make for distinctive wines.

With these ancient vines, father and son Patricio and Bastián Cea make a handful of different wines — all under the philosophy of natural wines with minimum intervention. Ladrón de Uvas (Grape Thief), País Sismico (Seismic Country) and Pipeño no Muere (Pipeño never Dies) are three of their best-known wines, and each is made using artisanal techniques with the native ferments taking place in traditional rauli vats.

Viña Doña Luisa, named after the matriach of the family, is open for visits and Luisa will often rustle up some local dishes to accompany their wines and stunning view over the vineyards and nearby Bio Bio River.

Instagram @vinadonaluisa

Facebook @vinosdonaluisa.millapoa

Tinto de Rulo

Tinto de Rulo has long been one of my favourite gems when it comes to underrated wines in southern Chile. A small project started by three friends in 2013 has blossomed into an exciting natural wine production focused on old vine Malbec, País, Carignan, Cinsault and Moscatel from Bio Bio.

Today with Jaime Pereira and Claudio Contreras at the helm of production, the wines are all made by spontaneous fermentation and all the wines are destemmed by hand. In their boutique winery, vinification happens in clay tinajas and also large rauli vats.

The vines are all old vines found in the dry-farmed regions of Bio Bio and Itata, and range from 70 to 200 years old. You can read more about Tinto de Rulo and their wines in our online winery guide.

Instagram @tintoderulo

August 18, 2022 0 comment

Guide to the wineries in Chile. Chileno Sur association for wineries in Itata Valley in Chile

Bio Bio Malleco Maule Itata

Sur Chileno: A new association for independent wineries in Itata, Bio Bio, Maule & Malleco

by Amanda Barnes January 24, 2022

written by Amanda Barnes

Sur Chileno is a new association of independent producers in southern Chile’s regions of Maule, Itata, Bio Bio and Malleco who are working together to promote the authentic wines of the south. Southern Chile is undoubtedly a special place when it comes to making wines of great character and authenticity, and the goal of the eight founding wineries for Sur Chileno is to promote this identity together and help push towards more sustainable wine production in the south.

“We are all independent wineries and share the same key philosophies,” explains one of the founding members, Enzo Pandolfi of Pandolfi Price winery in Itata. “What are fundamental philosophies for all of us are: being respectful of the identity of wines from southern Chile; focusing on environmental, social and economic sustainability in wine production and fair trade; cooperation and unity between producers to support each other; and offering wines of great quality from southern Chile. We believe we can have a greater impact together as an association in promoting the wines and producers of the region.”

Founded in November 2020, Sur Chileno was supported and initiated by CORFO Ñuble. There are eight wineries who are the founders of the association, but it remains open for new associate members. The founding wineries are:

Massoc Frères

A family winery started in 2015 in Itata working with old vines there and is making an interesting line up of Moscatel, Cinsault and País wines, as well as a range of fortified wines and spirits.

Roberto Henríquez

Roberto is a renowned natural winemaker making wines from old vines in Bio Bio and Itata. His wines are highly sought-after internationally and he is recognised for his focus on artisanal winemaking traditions.

Clos des Fous

This exciting terroir focused project has been focused on finding special vineyards around Chile to make distinctive expressions of key varietals. Clos des Fous has a particular focus on old vines in southern Chile as well as new vines in the emerging region of Malleco.

Pandolfi Price

One of the modern producers of Itata who has really put it on the map international, Pandolfi Price is a family winery with a focus on premium Chardonnay as well as Pinot Noir, Syrah and Sauvignon Blanc.

Riveras del Chillán

Gonzalo Chandía Tolosa is a third generation vintner in Itata with 65 hectares of vines. His wines reflect the new direction of the family wine production, into adventurous styles of artisanal wines made from old vines.

Lomas de Llahuén

Brothers Francisco and Gustavo Riffo started this family winery in Itata, and today Lomas de Llahuén has an interesting focus on making traditional pipeño wines from old vines in native raulí pipas.

Berta

Berta is a family winery in Itata founded in 1997 with 87 hectares of vines on the riverbanks of River Ñuble. The family have quite a large portfolio of wines ranging from sparkling to still.

Tinto de Rulo

This boutique wine project from two friends in Itata and Maule is focused on making natural wines from old vines. The wines are artisanal in style and scale but show the great potential of old vine Malbec and Carignan among other varieties.

To find out more about Sur Chileno, you can visit their website surchileno.cl and watch this video:

January 24, 2022 0 comment

Guide to the wineries in Chile. Viña Lomas de Llahuen in Bio Bio in Chile

Featured Wineries Featured Chile Bío Bío Wineries Natural/Artisanal Chile

Lomas de Llahuén

by Agustina Abal January 18, 2022

written by Agustina Abal

Lomas de Llahuén is in the heart of Portezuela and was founded in 1986 by brothers Francisco and Gustavo Riffo who have fought tooth and nail to bring the heritage of their local Pipeño wines back into the limelight.

Lomas de Llahuén is an (as of yet!) undiscovered gem in Itata. Their human scale, family vineyard and winery is worth hunting for while in Itata.

About Lomas de Llahuén winery

Lomas de Llahuén was founded over 35 years ago as a small project in order to make local wines and revalue the traditional varieties and old vines of Itata. Brothers Francisco and Gustavo Riffo started out making just 600 litres of wine using the native raulí wood pipas for fermentation and selling the wines by the glass damajuana.

Over the years, the family have built up their reputation and resources in order to become a boutique winery working with over 20 hectares of vineyards and now incorporating the younger generation of the family.

Lomas de Llahuén is part of the Chileno Sur association in southern Chile.

January 18, 2022 0 comment

Bio Bio Chile Features Chile News Chile Wine Guide Wine

New grape varieties discovered in Bío Bío

by Amanda Barnes October 26, 2018

written by Amanda Barnes

Bío Bío feels like the lost kingdom of wine. It is filled with gnarly old vines, overgrown with colourful flowers and populated by more butterflies and birds than humans. This southern wine region in Chile is one of the country’s oldest with vineyards spread all over the region for the best part of 500 years. However, it fell out of fashion over the last hundred years as attention turned elsewhere leaving many vineyards abandoned. So it’s no surprise that it is here where an intrepid winemaker and research team have discovered a wealth of rare grape varieties, including 26 new varieties – never recorded before and, as far as we know, unknown to the world.

Discovering old vines and new varieties in Bío Bío

The intrepid winemaker in question is Juan José Ledesma who began the investigation into hundreds of unidentified grape varieties in 2011. “It all started when I stumbled across old vines of Malbec in San Rosendo,” Ledesma told the South America Wine Guide. “It was a fortuitous find!”

Those old vines of Malbec are believed to be some of the oldest on the continent, estimated to be over 200 years old. Since their discovery, they have been used to produce highly-appraised wines by Clos de Fous and Viñas Inéditas.

After recruiting the help of FIA (and DNA-analysis by INEA), local growers, researchers and historians, the team discovered 26 entirely new (previously unrecorded) grape varieties and over 60 ‘uncommon’ varieties including grape varieties such as Iona, Hondarrabi Beltza, Mollar, Isabella and Palomino Fino.

“These varieties have mostly been here for over 100 years,” Ledesma explained. “They tell us of a much more diverse history in Chile than we knew about, where French, Basque and Spanish varieties cohabitated with diverse vinification methods. It’s a tower of babel on the shores of Bío Bío!”

Using old vines to inform future decisions

The discoveries and growers are being kept under wraps for now. As the research project is only halfway through, the team are keen to protect the vines and growers. The next phase is making wine from these varieties and then presenting them as sustainable varieties for Chile’s future.

“This project transcends the local level and we hope will have an impact on the greater wine industry in Chile,” says Ledesma. “We’ve found varieties that are naturally well adapted to climate change and different soil salinities, and have probably survived over 300 years as dry-farmed varieties in Bío Bío.”

Chile’s wealth of old vines could well be key to a sustainable future.