Vinos Baettig

The winery

Vinos Baettig is the project of two friends: the winemaker Francisco Baettig, who for more than fifteen years was behind the wines of Errázuriz, Seña and Viñedo Chadwick, and Carlos de Carlos, a business administration graduate who spent years selling high-end wines in Chile and abroad. Their great-grandparents, Swiss immigrants, settled as farmers in the countryside around Traiguén and Purén at the end of the nineteenth century. After several years studying the area's soil and climate, the partners chose a plateau between the Quino and Traiguén rivers, beside the road linking Traiguén with Galvarino, and planted it in 2013 under the name Viñedo Los Suizos. The first, experimental harvest was in 2016, and the wines reached the market in 2020: the Descorchados guide named it revelation winery and La Cav, best new winery of 2021.

The property covers 22 hectares, of which 15.4 are planted with French clones: 9 of Pinot Noir and 6.4 of Chardonnay, spread across named parcels such as El Primo, El Chuir, Clos de la Cuñada, Llaima and El Triángulo. The soils are old and volcanic, clayey in texture with rock at depth, and rainfall of more than 1,000 mm a year allows farming without irrigation; the cold and low solar radiation stretch out ripening and give wines of moderate alcohol and good acidity. Harvest is by hand, usually between late March and April, and intervention in the cellar is minimal: native yeasts, gentle extractions and aging in French barrels with a moderate share of new oak. There are two lines: Vino de Viñedo Los Parientes, which brings together several parcels and aims for freshness and fruit intensity, and Selección de Parcelas Los Primos, a few thousand bottles per vintage, born of El Primo, Chuir and La Cuñada for the Pinot Noir and of Triángulo and Llaima for the Chardonnay. Since the 2021 vintage the house has also made Cabernet Sauvignon from old dry-farmed vines in the Maule coastal range (Los Compadres and, since 2022, Los Padrinos), the only wines that do not come from Traiguén.

Vinos Baettig publishes no visits or tastings: its website offers no tours, and sales go through specialist distributors, in Chile and in markets such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Denmark, Hong Kong and Japan. In Chile, Los Parientes Chardonnay, Los Parientes Pinot Noir and the Los Compadres Cabernet can be found in specialist shops such as El Mundo del Vino. Inquiries go by email to Francisco Baettig (francisco@vinosbaettig.cl) or Carlos de Carlos (carlos@vinosbaettig.cl).