Cellar Profile
In the spring of 1887, a young Frenchman named Emile Bouchon left his small winegrowing town in Bordeaux, France and boarded a ship headed for Chile. In time, he purchased a wine cellar in Colchagua Valley and turned it into one of the most prominent vineyards of that age. Emile's grandson, Julio, fell in love with the granitic soils in the interior dry area in Maule Valley, acquiring Mingre Estate in 1977. The family acquired two additional Maule vineyards with different soil compositions and perspectives. These minimal interventionists are part of "Vigno", an association of winemakers created to highlight the exquisite qualities of Carignan from the Maule Valley. "Vigno" Carignan vines must be organic, dry-farmed and at least 60 years. The winery is also part of a recent movement to use the exciting, indigenous Pais grape — formerly the region's workhorse variety — to make top-end quality wines. Pais Salvaje (their Natural versions of Pais) are made from untrained, wild vines that have mutated, spread around their home vineyards and twisted around trees and which are harvested on ladders from the treetops themselves. They work with concrete, French oak and clay amphorae in the cellar and spontaneous ferments are used in order to further highlight the unique terroir of their vineyards. Bouchon Family Wines garner accolades around the world.
Region
The Maule Valley was one of the first viticultural regions in all of South America, planted most commonly to Pais (known in California as Mission grapes). Part of the larger Central Valley region of Chile, Maule lies further south than the better-known Colchagua and Maipo regions. It is also cooler than Colchagua or Maipo. The flow of the Maule River that runs into the Pacific helps moderate daytime temperatures in the interior part of the region and cool evenings during the growing season help maintain freshness and acidity in the wines produced. The proximity to the Pacific Ocean means there is plenty of rain during the winter, but the growing season is extremely dry. You find primarily alluvial soils from old sea beds, along with red clay and granite. As the resurgence of Pais has brought more acclaim to the old vine vineyards of the region, so has cultivation of Carignan. This French grape gives plush, black fruit-scented wines with structure. "Vigno" (which stands for Vignadores de Carignan) is an association of old vine Carignan growers whose goal is to create an appellation of origin for wines made from old Carignan vines that have been dry-farmed and bush-trained in the Maule Secano area.