Alchemy Wines

The winery

Alchemy grew out of a meeting between two winemakers. Alphonse Derose, a Californian vintner from the DeRose family (Cienega Valley), began making wine in Colchagua in 2002 to export it directly to the United States. In 2009 the Chilean Eduardo Camerati traveled to California to work his first harvest with him and, the following year, the two decided to build a project of their own in the Almahue valley, which over time became Alchemy Wines. Today the winery is a member of the Movimiento de Viñateros Independientes (MOVI, the independent winemakers' movement) and welcomes visitors at its winery and vineyard in Santa Ana, an area of Peralillo near the coast where several small wineries sit side by side and which hosts the open-doors days (Puertas Abiertas) of the Ruta Santa Ana de Vinos every fall.

Production is small and manual: the grapes are picked and destemmed by hand, ferment with native yeasts, are pressed gently and move by gravity into French oak barrels or concrete eggs; several wines are bottled unfiltered. The Alchemy line, under the Valle del Cachapoal appellation, includes Carménère, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Syrah-Garnacha, Malbec and the Grand Cuvée (a blend of Carménère, Malbec and Syrah with 18 months in barrel), in batches of some 7,000 bottles. Parróne is the more affordable line, with reds from Colchagua (Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Garnacha, Malbec and Cabernet-Syrah), and Angelina groups the wines aged in concrete eggs: White Angel (Sauvignon Blanc) and a Chardonnay from Casablanca, plus the reds Black Angel and Carménère. The Carménère and the Grand Cuvée have earned scores from James Suckling, Descorchados and Tim Atkin MW and medals at Catad'Or; the house also makes Blues, a sparkling cocktail of Patagonian blueberries.

Visits are booked by phone or email and offered daily between 11 am and 4 pm. The guided tour of the winery and vineyard, in Spanish or English, lasts about two hours, tells the story of the place and ends with a tasting of four wines; it can be rounded off with a three-course paired lunch designed around the house labels, and there is a wine shop on site. Sunsets over the Santa Ana hills are part of the appeal. To stay over, the winery offers a boutique hotel in the Almahue valley, between Colchagua and Cachapoal, with room for six people and stays that include the winery tour.