Viña Balduzzi

The winery

The Balduzzi story starts in Carezzano, a village in the hills of Italy's Piedmont where the family was already making wine. In 1906, Albano Balduzzi sailed to South America and took up the trade again in the Maule Valley. The winery still belongs to the family, now in its fourth generation, and its winemaker, Juan Canales, has worked with it for more than 20 years. The cellar is on Avenida Balmaceda in San Javier, 500 m from Ruta 5 Sur, and it opened to tourism in 1996; by the estate's own account, it now welcomes more than 10,000 visitors a year.

The winery explains that its reds come from the Aitué vineyard, in the valley's dry-farmed interior (secano interior), on granitic soil with little water and plenty of heat, and its whites from a cooler sector of sandy loam that catches the breeze off the Andes. Aitué yields Balduzzi B, a blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Carménère, and Carezzano, the tribute to the founder: 60% Carménère, 20% old-vine Carignan and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, in just 1,906 numbered bottles, aged in concrete eggs, barrel and bottle. The old vines also give Viejo Encachao, from one hectare of Carignan over 60 years old, and ¡Viva el Rosé!, from País over 100 years old. That rosé belongs to the ¡Viva! line, which adds a Pinot Noir from a vineyard exposed to the cold Andean breezes. The range is rounded out by the Grand Reserve, Limited Series (with Almaule País, Block 44 and Garra de León Chardonnay), Reserva (with a Late Harvest) and Classic lines. The house holds the Sustainable Wine of Chile certification.

The visit takes place at the San Javier cellar and no booking is needed: it opens Monday to Saturday from 9:00 to 18:00, without a midday break, and closes on Sundays and public holidays. The program the winery publishes, dated January 2025, offers two options in Spanish and English: a free self-guided walk through the mini-museum of old machinery, the variety garden with 14 grape varieties, the earthquake-damaged vat and the shop, and a tasting of four wines at CLP 12,000 per person, with a crystal glass to take home. The same document warns that guided tours are suspended while a new route is designed, and it does not include an outing to the Aitué vineyard. Wines can be bought at the cellar door or in the online store, which sells almost everything by the case. The website notes wheelchair-accessible entrances and restrooms. No restaurant or accommodation is published.