Agrupación de Viñateros El Carretero de Santa Juana

The winery

El Carretero is neither a single winery nor a single cellar: it is an association of small rural winegrowers from Santa Juana, the municipality of the Biobío Valley that stretches between the Nahuelbuta range and the river, south of Concepción. Each member works their own vineyard in the rural districts of Colico and Tanahuillín, and around 2017 they joined forces to make, label and sell together, with support from the Municipality of Santa Juana and INDAP. The group has around ten members, according to its own Instagram in February 2026. The name (El Carretero means "the carter") and the logo, a cartwheel, point to the rural world they come from.

They work the traditional grapes of southern Chile, País and Moscatel de Alejandría, on vines the group itself describes as century-old. Around 2018, with winemaking advice, they replaced the old wooden lagares (treading vats) with stainless steel tanks and added crushers and destemmers. The range includes the white Rayenantü, from Moscatel de Alejandría, which also comes in a late-harvest version; the red Guadalcázar, from País, whose name recalls the town's colonial name, Santa Juana de Guadalcázar; the rosé Colico, also from País; and Tanahuillín, a traditional-method sparkling País that also has a pét-nat version. According to the group, Rayenantü won a gold medal at the 2017 Catad'Or competition, and Enoturismo Chile credits Tanahuillín with a silver medal in 2018 and presents it as the first sparkling wine produced in the Biobío Region.

There is no shared wine shop or cellar with opening hours: the wines are bought directly from the producers in the Tanahuillín, Colico and El Venado districts, at the municipality's traditional country fairs and at regional and national fairs, and some reach hotels, restaurants and retailers specializing in Biobío wines. To meet the growers where they work there is the Ruta Enoturística de Santa Juana, a wine route the group runs together with local craftswomen and country cooks: a full day with a farm breakfast, a wool and felt workshop, a visit to the growers' vineyards and cellars with a tasting and a country lunch, transport included. It is sold only to groups of 12 or more, through tour operators, from CLP 50,000 per person. Every fall, in addition, the group and the municipality organize the free Fiesta de la Vendimia de Santa Juana (harvest festival) at the Club de Huasos hall in Tanahuillín.