Viña Baron Knyphausen

The winery

Viña Baron Knyphausen is the Chilean branch of Weingut Baron Knyphausen, the Rheingau winery the Knyphausen family has owned since 1818 at the Draiser Hof in Eltville-Erbach, on the banks of the Rhine. In Chile the family started making wine around 2015 on part of the former Hacienda Santa Teresa de Llay Llay, beside Ruta 5 Norte, and today the project is led by Edzard zu Knyphausen. The place has a history of its own: the main house was commissioned by Jenaro Prieto Hurtado, a pioneer of fruit exports to the United States, after the earthquake of 1906. It is a two-story manor house inspired by the French Belle Époque, designed by a Parisian architect with an earthquake-resistant structure of timber, oak and adobe, where the writer Jenaro Prieto Letelier spent much of his life. In 2009 the house, its park of century-old trees (Chilean palms, araucarias, peumos, pataguas, magnolias and chestnuts) and its outbuildings were declared a Monumento Histórico (national historic monument).

The vineyard is small, almost two hectares, planted mostly with Carménère and to a lesser extent Syrah, and is farmed without pesticides or chemicals; the winery calls it organic, though it publishes no certification. It benefits from the fertile soils laid down by the Aconcagua River, intense sun, the morning fog that drifts in from the Pacific and the wind that, according to the family, gives Llay Llay its name. Production is short, on the order of nine thousand bottles, split between two Gran Reserva reds: the Carménère Veritas Vincit, aged in second-use French barrels and awarded gold medals at the Catad'Or competition, and Las Venteras de Llay Llay, a blend of Carménère and Syrah. The estate also brings the family house's Rieslings and Sekt sparkling wine to Chile, and in Germany its Carménère is sold only at the Rheingau winery.

Visits are by booking only, by phone, WhatsApp or email. There are two formats: a vineyard visit with tasting and snacks in Las Caballerizas (the stables), for groups of four or more, and lunches with tasting for groups of eight or more in the dining room of the Chalet, booked three days in advance. There is no restaurant open to the public and no published prices, so ask for a quote first, and according to a 2026 review it closes on Sundays. The Chilean and German wines are bought directly from the winery, mostly by the six-bottle case, by writing on WhatsApp, Instagram or email, and can be collected at the estate by prior arrangement.